French court tries woman for kissing all-white painting

Associated Press

AVIGNON, France A woman who planted a lipstick-laden kiss on an all-white painting [that's right, folks, the "painting" is nothing more than a piece of cloth painted white] by the American artist Cy Twombly went on trial today, telling the court she had committed an "act of love" not a crime.

Rindy Sam, a 30-year-old French artist, faced charges of "voluntarily damaging a work of art." Restorers have tried to remove the lipstick smudge from the bone-white canvas using nearly 30 products to no avail. [Would anyone notice if they just painted another piece of cloth white?]

"I didn't think. When I kissed it, I thought the artist would have understood," Sam told the court in the southern French city of Avignon, describing it as "an act of love."

Prosecutors, however, want Sam to pay a $6,400 fine and take a class on good citizenship.

Sam was taken into custody after she kissed the painting on July 19. It was part of a traveling exhibition on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon.

The painting, which is worth an estimated $2,830,000, is owned by collector Yvon Lambert. He was asking for $2,878,000 in damages, which included the value of the painting and the $47,000 restoration cost. [Perhaps the real crime is the fraud being perpetrated on the public by the claim that a piece of cloth painted white is worth more than 2 million dollars.]

Twombly is known for his abstract paintings combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines and the use of graffiti, letters and words.

Born in Lexington, Va., in 1928, Twombly has lived in Italy for nearly a half-century. He won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2001.

Today's trial comes just days after another painting French Impressionist painter Claude Monet's Le Pont d'Argenteuil was vandalized. Intruders, apparently drunk, broke into Paris' Orsay Museum early Sunday and punched a hole in the renowned work.

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel, reacting to Sunday's incident, pledged to seek improved security in museums and stronger sanctions against those who desecrate art.

Fine art, indeed. What do I know? Sounds like she improved it...

Now is the time to get on board with my new business opportunity. I'm selling great art in all solid colors, starting at a mere $1,000,000. Imagine your wall with a portrait of solid luxurious white or in solid fire red. We will even throw in a light to highlight your art. Place your orders now! Not sold in stores!

is this the jury?

I think I've actually seen that painting - or one exactly like it - at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I've always remembered that, according to the little plaque next to it, the all white canvas was repainted/touched-up by some other artist many years after it was originally completed. I just don't get it!

David you are confusing this case with the Michael Vick case.

The picture is the jury for Vick's Virginia trial.
(Boy, so much for my reading skills)

[This message was edited by Gordon LeMaire on 10-12-07 at .]

the real question for me is whether the exclusion of any rothko paintings from the jury is prohibited by batson.

This is the graphic version of alternative music, so eloquently summed up in Todd Snyder's hilarious song "Seattle Grunge Blues":

We refused to play a note.
Under any circumstances.
Silence.
The original alternative to music.

Given today's disclosure that a number of popular lipsticks are under review for lead content, perhaps the appropriate charge would be tampering with a consumer product under the French version of sec. 22.09 (since I'm quite sure the French criminal code is every bit as stringent as its Texas counterpart).

Off to Devil's Island with you, Madamoiselle Papillon!

Scott, your observation has a certain - je ne sais qua - typical of your devotion to the arts. You are to painting what Mastertone is to the Grammy(s).

If Twombly had painted a pair of red lips on the white "painting", would it still be art?

quote:

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Originally posted by David Newell:
the real question for me is whether the exclusion of any rothko paintings from the jury is prohibited by batson.

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I once attended a wedding in the Rothko Chapel. Yes, a wedding and yes, it was very "different", somber, surreal and not a little bit disconcerting.

I actually like Rothko's early work. For a glimpse at his chapel works, click here. As a graduate of UST, I got to see events at the chapel. It has been visited by quite a few high muckety mucks who all pretended the chapel paintings were marvelous.