Attacker Faces Charges for Damaging $40 Million Clyfford Still Painting

5 January 2012 - by ArtfixDaily Staff

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Clyfford Still's 1957-J-No. 2 was damaged in the Dec. 29 attack.

(Clyfford Still Museum)

A painting valued at $30 million to $40 million was attacked by a woman at the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver on Dec. 29.

Carmen Lucette Tisch, 36, of Denver was arrested for allegedly being drunk and punching the 9 1/2-foot-tall by 13-foot-wide painting, called 1957-J-No. 2.

Tisch is being held on a $20,000 bond. She will be in court Friday morning for criminal mischief charges.

About $10,000 worth of damage was inflicted, but the painting can be repaired, according to the museum.

"This extremely rare and random act of criminal mischief is highly deplorable; however, it will not deter us from performing our mission and continuing to provide a world-‐class art experience to our visitors," read a museum statement posted Jan. 5.

The city-owned museum opened in November with 2,400 artworks, representing much of the oeuvre of famed abstract expressionist Clyfford Still.

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