The Right to Destroy

Steve Wynn, a hotel/casino magnate in Las Vegas, apparently destroyed his Picasso, “The Dream” after jostling it in an attempt to point out a feature to guests.  As the full news story described:

“Smack in the middle … was a black hole the size of a silver dollar. ‘Oh s—,’ he said. ‘Look what I’ve done. Thank goodness it was me.'”

Wynn’s office on Tuesday confirmed the story, an account of which also appeared in this week’s The New Yorker.

He had already sold (but not delivered) the painting for $139 million.  Of course, it would have made for a more interesting contracts problem if Wynn hadn’t done the honorable thing and agreed to keep and repair the painting!

[Miriam Cherry]