(Courtesy LAM museum)

Some say that art is in the eye of the beholder, that’s certainly true when it comes to craft beer, but one art museum in the Netherlands, nearly made a costly mistake.

Here’s the deal…

A Dutch museum, the LAM museum in Lisse, western Netherlands, has recovered artwork that looks like two empty beer cans after a staff member accidentally threw it in the garbage bin thinking it was trash.

At first glance, the work,  by French artist Alexandre Lavet, appears to be two dented beer cans.

And the museum, which prides itself in taking an unconventional approach in displaying the convincingly hand painted facsimile of what looked to be two discarded cans of Jupilar, a mass-market Belgian beer that is now brewed by Anheuser–Busch InBev, almost led to the artwork’s destruction.

Turns out the Lavet’s artwork entitled “All The Good Times We Spent Together” were originally displayed inside the museum’s lift when a staff member threw them in the trash obviously assuming that that’s what they were, someone’s leftover trash.

(Courtesy LAM museum)

But luckily the artwork was eventually discovered in a garbage bin and given a more reasonable display space near the entrance of the famed museum.

“The theme of our collection is food and consumption”, says Sietske van Zanten, the museum’s director on its website. “Our art encourages visitors to see everyday objects in a new light. By displaying artworks in unexpected places, we amplify this experience and keep visitors on their toes.”

Happily the lift technician was covering for the museum’s regular technician, won’t be fired. “He was just doing his job in good faith”, says Sietske van Zanten. “In a way, it’s a testament to the effectiveness of Alexandre Lavet’s art.”

Miraculously, both cans were found intact. They have been cleaned and temporarily put in a place of honor at the museum entrance, and are now displayed on a more traditional museum platform and given the artwork’s journey, awarded centerpiece  showcase status, at the museum.

“We wanted to give them their moment in the spotlight”, explains Elisah van den Bergh. As for where the artwork will be displayed next, that’s yet to be revealed. “We enjoy surprising our visitors, so no space is off-limits.”