The facts date back to early December last year. Two visitors to the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg noticed that there was something wrong with ‘Three Figures’, a work by the Russian painter Anna Leporskaya. Suddenly, two of the three figures depicted had “eyes.”
An investigation revealed that one of the guards, a 60-year-old man engaged by a private company on his first day at the museum, was the perpetrator. Out of boredom, he had taken out a ballpoint pen and drawn ‘faces’ on the very expensive work of art.
At the moment ‘Three Figures’ is being restored. Fortunately, experts said no permanent damage was done. The cost of the repair is estimated to be nearly $3,000 and would be paid by the private company that engaged the guard.
There was no second day of work for the guard.