1957-J No. 2
The painting at the center of the alleged incident, 1957-J No. 2 by Clyfford Still. Clyfford Still Museum

Thirty-six-year-old Carmen Tisch was charged on Wednesday after she was arrested for punching, scratching, and rubbing her butt on the $30 million 1957-J no.2 abstract painting by Clyfford Still sometime last month. Tisch allegedly caused $10,000 worth of damage, though one gallery owner said that the damage is more than physical.

It does damage the piece, though, even people just knowing what happened, said Ivar Zeile, who owns a different art gallery, said.

Tisch has been held on $20,000 bail since late December, and was charged with felony criminal mischief on Wednesday. The Denver Post reported that she was allegedly drunk at the time. You have to wonder where her friends were, Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney's Office told the Post.

Kimbrough also said that after she rubbed herself against the canvas, she urinated, though she said that none of it seemed to damage the 1957-J no.2 abstract.

It doesn't appear she urinated on the painting or that the urine damaged it, so she's not being charged with that, Kimbrough told the Post.

Clyfford Still was born in 1904 in North Dakota, and was considered one of the most influential abstract expressionist paintings. Four of his paintings were auctioned by Sotheby's last year for $114 million.

Tisch will be formally charged on Friday.