Woman Gets Probation for Attack on Abstract Artwork
- May 31, 2012 21:50
An intoxicated woman who attacked a $30 million painting by American abstract expressionist Clyfford Still will get probation and undergo mental health treatment, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
Carmen Tisch, 37, caused about $10,000 worth of damage to the oil-on-canvas painting "1957-J No. 2" at the Clyfford Still Museum on Dec. 29, 2011. The work is valued at $30-$40 million.
She pleaded guilty earlier this month to felony criminal mischief for scratching and striking the painting. Tisch also slid her naked buttocks across the canvas and urinated on the museum floor.
A judge ruled two years probation and mental health treatment for the Colorado woman.
The incident took place shortly after the opening of the new Clyfford Still museum in Denver in the fall of 2011.
Four works by Still were sold at Sotheby's for a combined $114 million in order to endow the museum last year.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
