Security Guard Defaces A Million Dollar Painting With A Ballpoint Pen Just Because He Was Bored
Honestly, he's a mood, but it's pretty embarrassing.
One bored security guard turned a quiet museum shift into a headline nobody expected. A faceless painting, a ballpoint pen, and a split-second decision were all it took to damage a work valued at around $1 million.
The incident happened at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg, where Anna Leporskaya’s painting Three Figures was on display.
Now the question is less about why he did it and more about how something so small caused such a big problem. Read on.
It was his first day of work, and he was bored, so he decided to draw some eyes on a faceless painting worth $1 Million.
The 60-year-old 'bored' security guard was reported to have drawn eyes with a ballpoint pen on two out of three figures in the artwork, which was exhibited in "The World as Non-Objectivity: The Birth of a New Art."
Ironically, the guard seemed to have an idea of birthing a new art from that one piece. The guard is reportedly from a private security company and has already been fired.
Leporskaya, a student of Kazimir Malevich, a Russian avant-garde artist, had "Three Figures" (1932-1934) undergoing examination and restoration by experts to restore its beauty.
After the defacing incident, the police launched an investigation for vandalism.
She was known as a master of artistic porcelain and died in 1982. Alongside the Tretyakov Gallery, her works are also widely displayed in the Russian Museum's collection. Following the defacing incident, the police launched an investigation for vandalism, which resulted in a fine of RUB 40,000 and a one-year labor sentence.
The damage was estimated to have cost approximately RUB 250,000. The painting's actual worth remains somewhat unclear, but it was insured for RUB 74.9 million by the Alfa insurance company.
This whole fiasco was executed with just a ballpoint pen.
"We inform you that during the investigation, the individual who painted the eyes on the figures in the painting by Anna Leporskaya was identified - this is an employee of a private security organization that carries out security activities at the Yeltsin Center," the Yeltsin Center stated in a release.
"Recall that on December 7, 2021, during the demonstration of the exhibition 'The World as Non-Objectiveness: The Birth of a New Art' in the Art Gallery of the Yeltsin Center, the painting 'Three Figures' (1932–1934) from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery was damaged."
"The damage was inflicted with a ballpoint pen. The work was inspected by the restorer of the State Tretyakov Gallery the very next day and sent to Moscow. The painting is being restored, and according to the expert, the damage can be eliminated without consequences for the artwork," they added.
"The Yeltsin Center refrained from commenting on this situation in real-time, as an internal investigation of the incident and interactions with law enforcement agencies were underway."
That tiny pen stroke turned into a very expensive mistake.
While it is indeed a humorous story to tell, the total cost of this act of vandalism is no joke at all! Art is art, and even if it may seem funny to add eyes to faceless figures, we must always respect the works of every artist, whether they are deceased or alive.
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For another “who pays” blowup, read about the artist debating vet costs after her friend’s parrot wrecked her painting.
