The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

Every time I think I have heard it all or read it all something pops up like this. A woman is arrested on "suspicion," not proof, of supposedly kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly.

Of course this could only happen in France, or ad least we hope so. She apparently smudged the bone-white painting/canvas with her lipstick. The woman is being accused also of "damage to a work of art." Come on it was just a kiss and a little daba do yah will work wonders on that canvas.

I attended the Art Institute of Chicago on scholarship some years back when I was fresh out of high school and I can tell you for sure it takes a whole lot more that a kiss and a smudge to ruin a work of art.

I don't advise anyone to go around kissing paintings, but come on, she must of really loved the art work to take it to that level. But then kissing a painting to me is like hugging a tree. I wouldn't do either.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday.

Police said they arrested the woman after she kissed the work on Thursday. She is to be tried in a court in the southern city of Avignon on Aug. 16 for "damage to a work of art," judicial officials said.

The painting, which is worth an estimated $2 million, was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. It is part of an exhibition slated to run at the museum through Sept. 30. Officials did not provide further details on the painting.

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.

It was the kiss!