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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRussian painting vandalized by 'bored' gallery guard who drew eyes on it
A valuable avant garde painting has been vandalised by a bored security guard who drew eyes on faceless figures in the artwork on his first day working in a Russian gallery. Anna Leporskayas Three Figures was painted between 1932 and 1934, and had been insured for 75m roubles (A$1.4m, £740,000). It was on display as part of an abstract art exhibition at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Ekaterinburg when the guard drew eyes on it using a ballpoint pen.
Alexander Drozdov, the executive director of the Yeltsin Center, did not identify the security guard in a statement, but said he worked for a private security company and had been fired. The exhibitions curator, Anna Reshetkina, said the painting was vandalised with a Yeltsin Center-branded pen.
His motives are still unknown but the administration believes it was some kind of a lapse in sanity, she said.
Restoration experts at the Tretyakov have estimated that the restoration work would cost 250,000 roubles (A$4,600).
The Yeltsin Center reported the damage to police on 20 December, but
Ekaterinburgs ministry of internal affairs initially declined to press charges as the damage was deemed insignificant. Russian media reported that the ministry of culture later complained to the prosecutor generals office about the lack of action, and last week police announced that they had opened an investigation. The suspect faces a fine and up to three months in prison.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/10/russian-painting-vandalised-by-bored-gallery-guard-who-drew-eyes-on-it
Detail from Anna Leporskayas Three Figures, after it was defaced at the Yeltsin Centre.
Photograph: The Art Newspaper Russia/Newslfash/Australscope
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)... Luckily, the culprit did not apply strong pressure to the canvas with the pen and as a result the damage did not go very deep ...
But .. the paint layer on the left-hand face in the painting .. crumbled slightly ...
The painting was returned to the State Tretyakov Gallery .. for restoration a day after the .. discovery.
The restoration is estimated to cost .. (£2,468; $3,345).
Protective screens have since been installed ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60330758
Vinca
(50,269 posts)cinematicdiversions
(1,969 posts)It's an okay painting but I can't imagine paying over $500 bucks for it.
FoxNewsSucks
(10,429 posts)Everything is improved by googly eyes.
petronius
(26,602 posts)Slipping in a sales pitch? "Only $9.99 in the Gift Shop! A timeless memory of your visit!"