#three figures

Anna Leporskaya’s painting “Three Figures” (1932-34) after it was defaced at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Russia !

A security guard who was apparently bored during his shift is accused of using a ballpoint pen to draw eyes on the abstract painting.

The incident occurred last December, when visitors at the Yeltsin Center discovered that two faceless figures in Anna Leporskaya’s painting “Three Figures” (1932-34) were suddenly gazing back at them with two sets of eyes they didn’t have before. 

A police investigation later found that the vandal was a private security company worker who was stationed at the center. The 60-year-old guard, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, has since been fired from his job and detained on vandalism charges.

Fortunately, the damage appears to be reversible.

Robin Philipson (1916-1992, Scottish) ~ Three Figures, n/d