A painting by revered artist Paul Gauguin sustained no damage after a woman attempted to ruin it last week because it showed two topless women together.
The 1899 painting, Two Tahitian Women was on display at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., as part of a Gauguin exhibit. It is valued at $80 million according to the Washington Post.
Susan Burns, 53, of Alexandria, Va. was charged with attempted theft in the second degree for trying to grab the painting by its frame, and pulling it off the wall while screaming that the painting "is evil." She then attempted to punch the painting, which was protected by a plexiglass shield. She also caused $200 in damage for ruining the painting's frame and fixtures that secured the work to the wall.
“I feel that Gauguin is evil,” Burns later told an investigator. “He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it’s very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.”
An official at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which owns the painting, said it will only allow other museums to display many of its pieces if they are protected by plexiglass.
The painting will remain on display through June 5.
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