French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday condemned an "act of vandalism" after a controversial painting by Swiss artist Miriam Cahn, on display at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, was vandalised with paint on Sunday. The painting entitled "Fuck abstraction!", on display since mid-February, shows a person with their hands tied behind their back being forced to perform oral sex on a faceless, powerful man. Critics have said the victim in the painting depicts a child, which Cahn has denied, claiming it is a representation of rape as a weapon of war and crime against humanity. Several children’s rights groups had denounced the painting as child pornography, calling for it to be withdrawn. But their bid to have it removed was rejected in the French courts. The Palais de Tokyo modern art museum said a man "deliberately degraded" Miriam Cahn's work on Sunday by throwing purple paint at it, adding it would file a complaint for damage to property and obstruction of freedom of expression.
