A veteran of the first Chechen war, Alexander Vasiliev, who worked as a security guard at the Yeltsin Center, explained in an interview with the e1.ru portal why he added eyes to Anna Leporskaya's painting "Three Figures" worth 75 million rubles.
Shell-shocked and seriously wounded in 1995, Alexander worked as a security guard for many years, in a private security company that serves the Yeltsin Center, he was helped to get a job by acquaintances from a veteran organization. He wanted to refuse, because after severe leg injuries it is difficult for Vasiliev to stand, but agreed to go on one shift. He did not like the works at the exhibition. “They left a deep impression. I tried to pass by without looking. I watched how people react, and now I see: children of 16-17 years old are standing, discussing why there are no eyes, no mouth, no beauty! There were girls in the company, and they asked me: “Draw eyes, you work here,” he recalls.
The teenagers allegedly explained to him that these were their children's drawings, and then Alexander took a pen and drew on the eyes. The moment of communication with teenagers was not captured on video. “I would never get into other people's paintings without asking. Why ruin someone else's? If only I knew it wasn't the children's work of those guys! That the paintings were brought from Moscow and they cost so much! .. What have I done! - Vasiliev is upset.
According to Alexander's wife Yulia, who works as a doctor in one of the "red zones" of Yekaterinburg, this case could be the result of a shell shock. “In some things, he is naive like a child. Thought they were children's drawings. These are the consequences of concussion. Sitting at home was hard for him, unbearable. I really wanted to work. I think it's a tragedy for part of his generation. There are many people like him who have lost their health, thrown to the sidelines of life, ”she says.
The Restoration Council of the Tretyakov Gallery estimated the damage to the painting at a relatively small amount - 250 thousand rubles. Under a criminal article on vandalism, a man may face a fine or even arrest.
Leporskaya's work was exhibited at the exhibition “The World as Non-Objectivity. The Birth of a New Art”, which opened on November 5 last year and will run until February 20.
bbabo.Net