TARASCON, France, Nov 20 (AFP) - French artist Pierre Pinoncelli was fined nearly 300,000 francs (53,500 dollars) on Friday for damaging a porcelain urinal that was the work of Marcel Duchamp, a figure of the early 20th century avant-garde artistic movement.

Pinoncelli was prosecuted on a complaint by the Culture Ministry after urinating in the urinal and hitting it with a hammer at an exhibition in Nimes, southern France, in 1993.

A court here ordered the artist to pay 250,000 francs to an insurance company and 20,000 francs to the state in the person of Culture Minister Catherine Trautmann. He must also pay 16,336 francs for repairs and 10,000 francs in costs.

Pinoncelli, 69, whose home was mortgaged pending the verdict, said he urinated in the work of art "to restore to it its real value" and hammered it to protest "the art market going to the dogs."

A follower of the Nice artistic movement, Pinoncelli came to fame in 1969 when he threw red ink over then culture minister Andre Malraux during a Chagall exhibition in Nice.

Numerous fellow artists issued declarations of support on Friday and pledged to carry out stunts to protest

"abuse of authority by the culture ministry over contemporary artists."

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO????