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By Gum, What Have You Done To That Painting?

A young visitor to the Detroit Institute of Arts has stuck a piece of gum to a $1.5 million (£1.7m) painting, leaving a stain the size of a 10p coin, officials say. The boy was visiting the museum on a school visit last Friday when the incident happened, reports Detroit Free Press. The gum was placed on Helen Frankenthale’s the “The Bay,” an abstract painting from 1963. The painting is estimated to be worth about $1.5 million. The gum was stuck to the lower left corner of the painting, but failed to adhere to the fiber of the canvas, officials explained to the Detroit Press. However it did leave a chemical residue, said Becky Hart, assistant curator of contemporary art. The painting will stay on display while the museum’s conservation department research which solvent to use to clean the stain.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .