Ex-museum guard defaces painting
A former guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has been charged with vandalizing a million-dollar painting he apparently didn’t like, damaging it beyond repair.
A museum surveillance camera caught the vandalism May 16, police said Thursday.
Timur Serebrykov, 27, of Pittsburgh is accused of defacing “Night Sky *nldr*12” by Latvian-born Vija Celmins. The 31-by-37 1/2 -inch oil-on-canvas painting of a black, starlit night had a large vertical gouge in the middle and was damaged beyond repair, according to a police affidavit.
The painting was valued at $1.2 million, authorities said.
Serebrykov, who is to be arraigned July 29 on a charge of institutional vandalism, could not be reached for comment.
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