“The man destroyed the large blue and white Porcelain Cube at a busy private opening for the exhibition “Who am I?” at Palazzo Fava in Bologna on the evening of September 21. Local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man who has been identified in Italian media as Vaclav Pisvejc, a provocateur and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting important works of art.”
There is a difference between me breaking something I own and you breaking something I own. Also, everything old isn’t particularly valuable, or important. Apparently the vase he broke was quite cheap. If this was one of the last examples of its kind, or if it was particularly well made, but this appears to be neither of these. Still kind of an asshole move, but I wouldn’t say anything of value was lost.
I’ve seen the urn characterized both as rare/expensive and not uncommon/inexpensive. It seems to change depending on the point different articles are trying to make. Perhaps it’s relative.
Depending on the source, I’ve seen a dime a dozen, a couple thousand dollars (not exactly cheap in my books) or a million (which seemed to be about another work of Weiwei’s). I also saw a history site talking about Han pottery being a “minor work” with burial pieces mimicking bronze works from the time. I can’t say just what this was worth before he broke it, and the art world probably inflates its value now that it’s destroyed.