Two women charged in France over graffiti on famed 'Origin of the World' painting

Two women were charged in France on Tuesday over the spraying of the words "MeToo" on five artworks including a famous 19th-century painting of a woman's vulva, a prosecutor said.

The women, born in 1986 and 1993, were arrested on Monday afternoon after targeting "The Origin of the World", a nude painted by French artist Gustave Courbet.

The 1866 artwork on display at the Centre Pompidou-Metz was protected by a "glass pane", the museum in the northeastern city of Metz said.

French-Luxembourgish performance artist Deborah de Robertis told AFP she had organised the spray painting in red of the nude and another painting, carried out by two other people, as part of a performance titled: "You Don't Separate the Woman from the Artist".

Metz prosecutor Yves Badorc said five works had been sprayed with the words "MeToo" and one stolen.

The two women were charged with degrading and stealing cultural property, he said.

In a video sent to AFP by de Robertis, one woman tags Courbet's famous painting with red paint and then a second sprays another one. They then chant "MeToo" before being dragged away by security guards.

In an open letter, de Robertis denounced the behaviour of six men in the art world, describing them as "predators" and "censors".

De Robertis said they had also seized an embroidery work by French artist Annette Messager as "reappropriation".

De Robertis said the work belonged to an art critic.

"The Origin of the World" is in Metz on loan from the Musee d'Orsay.


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