IT’S COME TO THIS: New York Times art critic says Louvre should ditch Mona Lisa.
“The Louvre is being held hostage by the Kim Kardashian of 16th-century Italian portraiture: the handsome but only moderately interesting Lisa Gherardini,” art critic Jason Farago wrote, bashing Leonardo da Vinci’s renowned portrait.
He slams the painting — arguably the world’s most recognizable artwork — for turning the museum’s collection “into wallpaper for a cattle pen where guards shooed along irritated, sweaty selfie-snappers.”
“It is time for the Mona Lisa to go,” he proclaims.
Angry readers jumped on Twitter to say the paper of record may be losing it.
“They are after Mona… what’s next?!” one reader, @eliza7654, said.
Others accused the Times of churning out contrarian, shock jock-style pieces in a cheap attempt to become more social-media relevant.
“Are you guys desperate for readers? first the scathing takedown of peter lugers and now suggesting the louvre take down the mona lisa,” another Twitter user, @emily__abigail, wrote.
It may have worked — the hashtag #MonaLisa was trending on Wednesday afternoon with hundreds of people writing about it.
Still, another critic declared, “@nytimes is trying to cancel Mona Lisa!”
Is there a journalistic equivalent to the scam in Mel Brooks’ The Producers where a paper tries to blow through their backers’ money by producing the worst newspaper possible? Although to be fair, the paper spent the summer cancelling the American Revolution — why not the Italian Renaissance as well? Harry Lime, call your office!