$1M Painting Vandalized By Security Guard Who Added Eyes To Its Faces

An artwork by Anna Leporskaya was vandalized at an exhibition at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg, Russia, with the perpetrator using a ballpoint pen to add eyes to the painting’s figures. 

It has now been revealed, according to an update by the exhibition organizer, that the piece was given the extra “features” by a security guard on duty, who was on his first day at the job.  

Back in December, visitors noticed the painting, owned by the State Tretyakov Gallery, had been vandalized, alerting the exhibition’s staff to the issue. However, as per The Art Newspaper, the management waited two weeks before reporting the incident to the police. 

More puzzling still, according to ARTnews, the art center where the exhibition was held did not provide officers with video surveillance footage of the attack, and did not seem to mind when the police declined to open an investigation. 

“We were not even slightly puzzled when police decided not to open the case, because based on their damage assessment there was no legal grounds for [an investigation]. They say ‘no’, you obey. We’re law-abiding citizens,” said Alexander Drozdov, Executive Director of the Yeltsin Center.

The insurance firm AlfaStrakhovanie reportedly placed a 74.9 million ruble (nearly $1 million) value on Leporskaya’s “Three Figures” and agreed to pay 250,000 rubles ($3,200) for its restoration.

Thankfully, as The Moscow Times reported, insurance firm AlfaStrakhovanie agreed to pay the 250,000 rubles (US$32,000) needed to restore the piece. It had purportedly valued the piece at 74.9 million rubles (about US$1 million).

Even though the pen’s ink had penetrated the paint layer, the damage was reversible as the vandal had used a gentle stroke. 

Following the incident, the rest of the exhibition’s works were placed under protective screens, with security measures beefed up to prevent similar attacks. 

Update: Leporskaya’s painting was vandalized by a Yeltsin Center security guard, the center's executive director announced. The unnamed guard, who is roughly 60 years old, was said to have committed the crime on his first day of work https://t.co/fLf0zuqMYW

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) February 8, 2022

[via The Moscow Times and ARTnews, cover image via Ehaydy | Dreamstime.com]