At the least 4 members of employees have been let go from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for alleged misconduct through the establishment’s wildly fashionable Pokémon exhibition, which closed on 7 January.
In accordance with the Dutch newspaper Het Parool, employees together with safety guards and entrance of home staff allegedly supplied potential guests with insider data on how you can get restricted tickets to the present, which featured six small work that includes Pokémon characters impressed by Van Gogh. One other worker allegedly embezzled a field of Pokémon playing cards that had been produced for the exhibition. One member of employees to have been let go labored on the museum for 25 years.
The present was so fashionable that inside an hour of it opening final September, safety guards reported an unusually lengthy queue of individuals. “It’s even busier than the Vermeer,” one advised the Guardian newspaper. Ticket touts even arrange store exterior the museum.
A part of the pull was the promise of a free restricted version Pokémon card, which was handed out to guests who accomplished a treasure hunt-style questionnaire that concerned answering questions akin to what number of sunflowers have been in Van Gogh’s sunflower work.
However the ensuing frenzy, and a booming resale marketplace for the cardboard, brought about the museum to cease handing them out. The cardboard is presently out there on eBay for £100. “The Van Gogh Museum and the Pokémon Firm Worldwide take the security of holiday makers and staff very significantly,” the museum introduced in mid-October. “Because of latest incidents the place a small group of people have created an undesirable state of affairs, we’ve got taken the tough determination to not make the particular Pikachu X Van Gogh Museum promotional playing cards out there within the museum.”
In accordance with Het Parool, the members of employees concerned within the alleged misconduct have been initially suspended and have now been let go. The Van Gogh museum declined to remark, although a spokesman advised the Dutch newspaper: “We emphasise that we view this as an distinctive incident.”