From Boing Boing

A 12-year-old boy on a school field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts stuck a wad of gum on a painting. Helen Frankenthaler's 1963 painting, titled "The Bay," is apparently valued at $1.5 million. The gum was removed but left a stain. The boy has been suspended from school. Image seen here is the painting, not the gum. From the Associated Press:

The museum's conservation department is researching the chemicals in the gum to decide which solvent to use to clean it. The museum hopes to make the repair in two weeks and will keep "The Bay" on display in the meantime, (curator Becky Hart) said.

"Our expectation is that the painting is going to be fine," Hart said.

Now what I find extremely amusing in this story, is that they have to tell you the image is the painting and not the gum, because the normal person would not know the fucking difference. That's modern art people. In fact, I know that if no one had seen the boy stick the gum on the painting, no one would ever have known. Oh no, on the contrary, I can totally see a date in the near future when an art critic is yapping his mouth about "The Bay" and talking about how much of an art genius Helen Frankenthaler is for using watermelon chewing gum in expressing her emotions and feelings about hunger in third world countries and why there are no more spotted leopards in fucking Greenland. And you can read her art statement if you need any more insight into the mind of Helen Frankenthaler. It's right there next to the $1.5 million price tag. You see people, this is a shitty art piece, and the addition of chewing gum to it by a 12 year old fucking delinquent can only add to it's charm and appeal.

Wow, I don't know what's gotten into me about art these days.