What happens when you try to plant a work of art in one of the world’s most famous museums? One man found out when he risked a lifetime ban from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to make the ultimate grand gesture.
Chris Narine, a New York-based freelance graphic designer, had long wanted to pop the question to his girlfriend Marybeth in an art museum. But his plan became risky when he decided to insert his own art into the mix. In the weeks leading up to the proposal, he hatched his vision: him on one knee, asking a woman in a colorful polka-dot dress to marry him, surrounded by beautiful works of art—including his own painting of that very memorable moment.
Chris and Marybeth in the Modern/Contemporary wing of the Met. Photo: © Kelly Joyce Photography.
At the behest of her mother and sister, Marybeth bought a red polka-dot dress, which Chris convinced her to wear on a romantic stroll through the Met one autumn day last month. His brother and sister-in-law crept ahead, hanging the painting he made of himself proposing to Marybeth in a gallery full of work by her favorite artist, Picasso.
“After they gave me the signal, I whisked Marybeth to the painting, where she immediately began crying when she realized that the painting was of what was about to take place,” Chris wrote in an email to artnet News.
Within moments, museum guards asked the group to remove the canvas and suggested they leave the gallery. Chris has no hard feelings. “I am super thankful to the staff at the Met… they probably could have interrupted the proposal, but they let me finish and get a hug in before intervening.” (Thanks to My Modern Met for breaking this engaging story.)
It’s not often a visitor tries to add something to a museum’s collection. When asked about pulling one over on the guards, Chris said, “No alarms went off! We took every precaution to be as respectful as possible to the museum. We didn’t move or touch any art.” How exactly did they hang the painting? Command Strips. “Luckily, we were able to remove the painting and strip, all without leaving a mark!”
May their marriage be as charmed as the artistic proposal.