Art: Art–Do Not Touch

Still stunned by the recent wave of art thefts, the galleries of Europe are wiring themselves for sound. Last week an exhibition opened in Munich of 400 works by Toulouse-Lautrec. If a thief so much as touches one. an alarm will go off. London’s National Gallery and Tate Gallery are considering placing their pictures in a new kind of mat—a thin layer of foam rubber sandwiched between two foil sheets that are wired to the wall. It will do a thief no good to cut the wires, for the alarm will go off anyway. Price per mat: $10 to $15.