Art of Her

At the exhibition "The World as non-objective. The Birth of a new Art" in the art gallery of the Yeltsin Center, two figures in the painting of a student of Kazimir Malevich had eyes drawn with a ballpoint pen. The cost of Anna Leporskaya's painting is 75 million rubles, Yekaterinburg online reported.

The police initially refused to open a criminal case, considering that the damage was insignificant. The Restoration Council of the Tretyakov Gallery estimated it at 250 thousand rubles. After the appeal of the Ministry of Culture to the Prosecutor General's Office, a case was initiated under the article on vandalism.

One of the most unusual crimes of recent years was solved quickly, simply by viewing the recordings from video cameras. It turned out that the eyes were drawn by a security guard of the Yeltsin Center. It happened on his first day at work.

— I'm a fool, what have I done! — Alexander Petrovich is scolding himself now, a security guard who is accused of vandalism. — I'm telling everyone this now: both the prosecutor and the judges (that's what he calls the police interrogators).

He worked for many years in various security companies.

— At first I wanted to refuse, I was afraid that I would not be able to be on my feet all day, without the opportunity to sit down (the veteran has severe leg injuries. — Ed.). But they told me: if you work one shift, we'll pay you right away. I went out. To be honest, I didn't really like these works [at the exhibition]. They left a heavy impression. I tried to pass by without looking. I watched how people react, and here I look: there are children of 16-17 years old, discussing why there are no eyes, mouth, no beauty! There were girls in the company, and they asked me: "Draw your eyes, you work here." I asked them: "Are these your works?" They: "Yes." They gave me a pen. I drew the eyes. I thought it was just their children's drawings.

At first, no one noticed the changes.

— I see people passing by, smiling, — Alexander recalls. — Then, from standing on my feet for a long time, as I was afraid, I got a headache. I warned the shift supervisor that I was going home.

And a few days later, the police came to Alexander. He did not even immediately understand what he was accused of, and then offered: "Bring it, I will erase everything so that it is not visible."

He went to the interrogation with his wife. There it turned out that the company of teenagers who allegedly incited the guard to "vandalism" did not get into the lens of the surveillance camera.

— I would never get into other people's paintings without asking. Why spoil someone else's? If I knew that these are not the children's works of those guys! That the paintings were brought from Moscow and they cost so much!.. What have I done!

It is not yet known how he will have to answer for what happened — according to the criminal offence, a man may face a fine or even arrest.