The guard drew cartoon eyes on a painting valued at 75 million roubles, or about $1 million.
A security guard in Yekaterinburg, Russia, found an unconventional way to beat boredom during his first shift at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center.
He drew cartoon eyes on a painting valued at 75 million roubles, or about $1 million, according to Artnet.
The damaged painting was titled “Three Figures” and was completed by Anna Leporskaya in 1934.
Visitors of the museum spotted the altered painting back in December, where it was displayed as part of a survey of 20th-century Russian avant-garde art, Artnet explains.
Afterward, the staff promptly removed the piece and returned it home to the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. They then added protective screens over the other artwork.
After the incident, the security guard was fired. And because there was limited damage to the painting, Yekaterinburg’s ministry of internal affairs declined to press charges.
But because the incident has gone public, a formal complaint has been filed, and a case was opened.
“His motives are still unknown,” the show’s curator, Anna Reshetkina, said. “But the administration believes it was some kind of a lapse in sanity.”
Thankfully, experts say the painting can be restored because the guard did not apply enough pressure to cause significant damage. Restoration will cost about $3,300.
