According to Russian media, a security guard in a gallery in Yekaterinburg painted eye-like squiggles in the picture “Three Figures” – in which the said people do without facial features – the picture of Anna Leporskaya is said to be worth a high six-figure sum. The man is said to have already picked up a pen on his first day at work – and now, of course, everyone is wondering what may have been driving the 60-year-old.
Once again, no one comes up with the obvious answer: according to human judgment, the man should be a profound admirer of Franconia. For there, both – the deed and the type of the actor – are already very well known. A lady in Franconia has achieved some fame with the method of intervening in a supposedly incomplete work of art with a ballpoint pen. And the type of grabbing security guard is currently on everyone’s lips there. So the man from the Urals only had to put two things together.
Supporting documents? Nothing easier than that. Five years ago, a lady who could look back on 30 years more life experience than the Russian guard felt challenged when she visited the New Museum in Nuremberg. A work by the Fluxus artist Arthur Koepcke – insurance value 80,000 euros – caught her eye: a collage that imitates crossword puzzles, including the note “Insert words”. The former dentist spoke English, she knew how to fill in gaps and so she took it at her word. She later reported it to the police. Because of “damage to public property” was determined, but the public prosecutor’s office dropped the case.
In the SZ interview, the lady said at the time that she was firmly convinced that what she was doing was entirely in the interest of the artist. In fact, she has been hailed hundreds of times online as the true creative who brought fame to a not-so-well-known work by a not-so-famous artist. And possibly made it really valuable. The BBC also reported.
A security guard, on the other hand, went to the Hof Theater these days to help lift the fire protection wall between the auditorium and the stage. Probably pressed the wrong button, the sprinkler system went on, damage probably in the millions. But the man is known now.