Woman charged in attack on ‘evil’ Gauguin painting
By BEN NUCKOLS
WASHINGTON — A woman accused of pounding on a painting by Paul Gauguin and trying to rip it from a wall at the National Gallery of Art told police the post-Impressionist artist was evil and the painting should be burned, court documents show.
Susan Burns, 53, of Arlington, Va., has been charged with attempted second-degree theft and destruction of property following the attack Friday. She was being held without bail pending a mental health hearing Tuesday.
The Gauguin painting, “Two Tahitian Women,” valued at an estimated $80 million, was not damaged and will go back on view Tuesday, the National Gallery said in a statement. The picture is on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for an exhibit titled “Gauguin: Maker of Myth.”
The painting depicts two women standing next to each other, one with both breasts exposed and the other with one breast showing.
According to charging documents, an investigator told Burns her rights and asked why she had tried to remove the painting.
“I feel that Gauguin is evil. 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,” according to the documents.
Burns also said: “I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.”