Defaced Rothko: It could have been worse

 

Monday 08 October 2012 10:39 BST
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Police are investigating after a painting by the great 20th century abstract artist Mark Rothko was defaced at the Tate Modern in London today.
Police are investigating after a painting by the great 20th century abstract artist Mark Rothko was defaced at the Tate Modern in London today.

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The man who defaced Rothko's 1958 work 'Black on Maroon' now claims he has added value to the painting. While that's probably a bit of a stretch, his actions are certainly not the most outrageous example of vandalism in art history.

A list on Ranker from January this year includes the case of a drunk woman who wiped her bare bottom on a painting by Clyfford Still valued at $40m and the 47-year-old Italian man who took a hammer to Michaelangelo's David back in 1991.

Perhaps the most endangered painting in the world is Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Over the years it has been attacked with acid, a rock, red spray paint and a cup of tea.

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