Le Bateau

Q: "Le Bateau" by which artist was incorrectly hung upside down for 46 days in MOMA without anyone noticing?

A: Henri Matisse

In one of the art world’s most quietly hilarious blunders, the painting Le Bateau by Henri Matisse was displayed upside down for 46 days at the Museum of Modern Art—and almost no one noticed.

The mix-up happened in 1961, when the paper cut-out work, part of Matisse’s later “gouaches découpées” series, was installed incorrectly. Its abstract shapes and minimalist composition made it surprisingly tricky to orient, and visitors, critics, and even museum staff walked past it for weeks without raising an eyebrow.

It took a sharp-eyed stockbroker, Genevieve Habert, to spot that something was off. She realised the boat-like form made far more sense the other way up and alerted the museum. Sure enough, the artwork had been hanging inverted the entire time.

The incident is a playful reminder that modern art can sometimes feel like a visual riddle—and that even in the hushed halls of a world-class museum, a masterpiece can spend over a month doing an accidental handstand without anyone calling it out.