Boy, 12, Sticks Gum on $1.5M Painting

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February 28,2006 | DETROIT -- A 12-year-old visitor to the Detroit Institute of Arts stuck a wad of gum to a $1.5 million painting, leaving a stain the size of a quarter, officials say.

The boy was part of a school group from Holly that visited the museum on Friday, officials say. They say he took a piece of Wrigley's Extra Polar Ice gum out of his mouth and stuck it on Helen Frankenthaler's "The Bay," an abstract painting from 1963.

The museum acquired the work in 1965 and says it is worth about $1.5 million.

The gum stuck to the painting's lower left corner and did not adhere to the fiber of the canvas, officials told the Detroit Free Press. But it left a chemical residue about the size of a quarter, said Becky Hart, assistant curator of contemporary art.

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, she said.

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

Holly Academy director Julie Kildee said the boy had been suspended from the charter school and says his parents also have disciplined him.

"Even though we give very strict guidelines on proper behavior and we hold students to high standards, he is only 12 and I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did before it happened, but he certainly understands the severity of it now," said Kildee.

So now the painting is worth 1.5 million dollars and 25 cents?

2the9s said:

Have you been watching the Antiques Roadshow again?

...i could STRANGLE that...

I find this to be fucking hillarious and I have a degree in art

That boy is going to get an ass whoopin when he gets home!!

Why is being twelve an excuse? I hope he got a fair disciplinary action so that it won't happen again.

As he is 12 i think that the best form of discipline would be a wedgie

What kind of IDIOT do you have to be to do something like that?! By 12 years old, you certainly know well enough not to stick gum onto something displayed in a museum!

They should make him/his parents pay to clean it.

I saw this on the news last night. This kid needs some serious punishment.

dreamfactory313 said:

Kids on the street/kids on the beat/beat kids/beat kids

TheSmyrk said:

This kid would be a good candidate, huh?

This has been all over the news here in Detroit. That kid needs a serious talking to.

applekisses said:

He need to talk to a belt.

evenstar3 said:

i knew you'd understand

boys will be boys.

If he went out and got his 11 year old girlfriend pregnant no-one would give a shit.

ok

i don't think its okay he did this. but eventhough i am a strong advocate of the belt when a child gets outta place i don't think the situation was that extreme where he should've got his ass whooped. his parents talking to and punishing by taking his things away is sufficient enough. its only fair that his parents pay for the cleaning.

I'm glad that the school and the boy's parents are taking the incident seriously. The young man needs a lesson in actions and consequences.


In Eastern Utah there's a National Park where there are dinosaur footprint fossils preserved along parts of a river.

In, I think, 1999, a couple of boys, IN A GROUP OF BOYSCOUTS, damaged the site.

That blew my mind.

i dedicate this next song to sammij:

sosgemini said:

now...he's gimacing...think it's moreso the pain? or moreso the stench?


things that make u go "hmmm..."

Stax said:

Bullshit. I knew not to do that when I was 12.

applekisses said:

Let's go over and get him!

minneapolisgenius said:

exactly.

SammiJ said:

or yumm depending on your sexual fetish...

That's nothing...you should have seen what Muse did to the rare table at the Getty...

Byron said:

I forgot about that!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

that kid needs an ass whoopin.

who appraised this?

i want their number cuz i spilled the container i rinse my water color brushes in and pretty much got the same effect, so i'm thinking it has to worth at least a couple grand.