A court in Yekaterinburg overturned the conviction of a former security guard who drew attention to the avant-garde painting “Three Figures” in the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in the city, Interfax reports.

“The court cancels the verdict against him [Alexandr] Vasiliev (…) in connection with the absence of a criminal element in his actions and cancels forced treatment by a psychiatrist,” the judge in the case announced.

He also stated that the actions of the 63-year-old night watchman at the time of commission did not have the intention of vandalism, but only damage to other people’s property, without mutilation.

However, Vasiliev’s lawyer stated that the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, which owns the painting and lent it for the exhibition in Yekaterinburg, has the right to appeal this decision in the court of cassation.

In early February, Vasiliev’s act attracted global media attention after Russian media reported that a “bored” night watchman had turned his attention to the figures of an avant-garde painting insured for 75 million rubles (about £740,000 at the exchange rate since then). .

“The ink easily penetrated the paint layer because the titanium white used for painting the faces is not covered with artistic varnish, as was often the case in abstract painting of the time,” the specialized publication The Art wrote at the time.

How the night watchman justified drawing a picture

“I’m a fool for what I did,” said a man who was fired on his first day at the gallery.

Vasiliev, a decorated veteran who fought in the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, told journalist Olena Pankratieva that he considered Anna Leporka’s 20th-century work a “childish drawing” and claimed that some teenagers encouraged him to draw her eyes.

“16-17-year-olds stood and discussed why there are no eyes, mouth, or beauty! There were girls in the group and they told me: “Draw your eyes, you work here.” The security guard said that he asked the students if this was their job, to which they answered in the affirmative. “They gave me a pen, I drew the eyes. I thought it was just their children’s drawings!” the man admitted.

Information about the act of vandalism appeared back in December, but only two months later this story was picked up by the tabloids, and netizens began to joke about his gesture. But Vasiliev wasn’t amused: he looked visibly worried as he explained how his fellow veterans helped him land a job at the Yeltsin Center despite his extensive injuries.

Vasiliev later apologized for his actions and sent 5,000 rubles to the Tretyakov Gallery. Restoration experts of the Moscow Gallery estimated that the restoration work will cost 250,000 rubles.

A Yekaterinburg court has now overturned a lower court ruling in August that ordered the former night watchman to serve 180 hours of “corrective work” and undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment.