Painter Helen Frankenthaler's landmark abstract work The Bay got a little more abstract when it was given a makeover by a 12-year-old boy visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts with his school group.
While viewing the work the student stuck a wad of chewing gum on the painting, which is worth about $A2.02 million.
The barely chewed gum left a residue stain about the size of a 10 cent piece in the lower left-hand corner of the painting.
The boy was suspended from his school, Holly Academy, while museum curators worked with solvent to remove the gum residue.