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# Clyfford Still Painting Gets Lap Dance in Denver
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/clyfford-still-painting-gets-lap-dance-in-denver/
- Published: 2012-01-05T21:26:11.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:19:25.000Z
- Description: My Armenian Christmas present came one day early this year when someone emailed me this, "A 36-year-old Denver woman, apparently drunk, leaned against an iconic Clyfford Still painting worth more than $30 million last week, punched it, slid down it and urinated on herself..."
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, Art Crime, Clyfford Still, Clyfford Still Museum, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:51 (2012, 2013, part 1)

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/01/lap_dance-clyfford-still-400.jpg "lap_dance-clyfford-still-400")](http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci%5F19675102?ref=hyperallergic.com)

My Armenian Christmas present came one day early this year when someone emailed me this juicy and bizarre art crime story … the *Denver Post* [reports](http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci%5F19675102?ref=hyperallergic.com):

> A 36-year-old Denver woman, apparently drunk, leaned against an iconic Clyfford Still painting worth more than $30 million last week, punched it, slid down it and urinated on herself, according to a criminal case against Carmen Lucette Tisch.

I’m not going to lie, this story is awesome on so many levels. And, NO, I don’t ever want ANYONE to damage an art work in a museum but come on, we all show love in different ways, no?

Carmen Tisch chose “1957-J-No. 2.” (1957), which is roughly 9 1/2 feet tall and 13 feet wide, as the object of her affection … or whatever she wants to call it.

The *Post* lets us know that the painting is estimated between $30 million and $40 million by the museum and the damage will cost $10,000.

Tisch has a small criminal record, one DUI charge in 2008, but nothing you wouldn’t expect from a modern art lap dancer … or is she a “performance artist.” Needless to say, we probably don’t have to remind Hyperallergic readers that this isn’t the first time someone has [urinated in a museum](http://www.artfagcity.com/2010/03/01/how-much-pee-in-pan-will-prompt-museum-intervention/?ref=hyperallergic.com) ..*. \*cough\* Ann Liv Young.*

Ok, with a lede like the one I typed above, I know someone out there has some hate for me. So let me have it in the comments. I can take it, but remember, *it’s CHRISTMAS!*

*Original photo of lapdancer* [*via*](http://q101.com/2011/12/toys-for-tots-free-lapdances-if-you-bring-in-a-toy/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *and Clyfford Still and photo of Carmen Tisch* [*via*](http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci%5F19675102?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*