CAROL VOGEL Since 1952,The Actor,a rare Rose Period Picasso,has hung prominently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,along with other examples of early paintings by this Spanish master. But this week it could be found in a new,temporary home,the Mets conservation laboratory,where experts there are trying to determine the best course of action for this 105-year-old paintings brand-new feature: an irregular,6-inch tear running vertically along the lower right-hand corner. On Friday afternoon,a woman taking an adult education class at the museum accidentally fell into The Actor,causing the tear.The accident recalled another human-canvas run-in involving a Picasso. In 2006,the Las Vegas casino owner Stephen A. Wynn put his elbow through Le Reve (The Dream),a 1932 Picasso of the artists mistress Marie-Therese Walter,leaving a sizable hole that has been so artfully repaired that the untutored eye would never know such a fate had befallen it. But it is difficult to compare a 1932 Picasso with one painted in 1904-5. The early canvases are more delicate and the oil paint is thinner than the enamel-based kind the artist was known to have used later in his career. The Actor was painted when Picasso was only 23. He was very poor,and these canvases were expensive, said John Richardson,the Picasso biographer. He explained that if Picasso made a mistake,he couldnt afford to throw out the canvas,but rather painted over it. Nearly all these early canvases have something painted underneath, Richardson said. Dealers say a painting of this scale and period could be worth well over $100 million. Its an imagea tall,gaunt actor,dressed in a commedia dellarte costume,leaning out across the footlightsthat has often been puzzling to viewers,Richardson said,adding,People seem to miss out on the fact that the actor is on a stage,which is unusual. Also unusual is that the prompters hands are visible in the right-hand corner. Whether those hands are now torn,nobody is saying. David Bull,a Manhattan conservator,has not seen The Actor since its tear but he said there were all kinds of things that could be done nowadays. We have many more choices of materials than we used to and many new approaches, he said. Bull and several other conservators who have not seen the tear say the next steps depend on many unanswered questions. For starters,is the canvas lined? In the 1950s,60s and 70s,there was a passion for lining, Bull said. If its not lined,it will be easier to repair. Recent research has revealed that Picasso took an old canvas with a landscape on it,the work of another artist,flipped it over and painted The Actor. (He also painted out the original image.) Like a gifted plastic surgeon,a seasoned restorer has many options these days and a host of materials and instruments at his disposal,even acupuncture needles. They are used to keep a tear flat. Such needles were used to repair Le Reve,said William Acquavella,the Manhattan dealer who was involved in an attempt to sell that painting. Its amazing what can be done these days, he explained,adding that when they are finished restoring The Actor,the tear will probably only look like a tiny pencil line. If that.
