'Bored' security guard draws eyes on painting worth Rs 7.5 crore on first day at work, Anand Mahindra says turn it into an NFT

A security guard at a Russian gallery destroyed a painting worth over Rs 7.5 crore by drawing eyes on faceless figures because he was "bored". It was his first day on the new job.

The man drew two pairs of eyes with a ballpoint pen onto artist Anna Leporskaya's 'Three Figures' (1932-1934) painting during an art exhibition at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg situated in western Russia.

The painting is valued roughly around $1 million. According to a report in Daily Mail, the 60-year-old security guard worked for a private security company.


The doodle on the painting was spotted by visitors at the art exhibition on December 7 in 2021. The security guard was fired after the incident.

On Thursday, Indian industrialist Anand Mahindra came across the news and suggested a solution to fix the problem. "Just convert the new 'creation' into an NFT!" he said.


Well, that's one way to fix it.

Leporskaya's 'Three Figures' painting was given to the museum on loan by the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow who owns it. In a statement released on Thursday, the Yeltsin Center said the painting has been sent for restoration to the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The painting shows three torsos and heads with hair but no facial features.

The Russian news site RBK reported that a criminal case has been opened in the matter on charges that carry a sentence of up to three months in prison.

Leporskaya, who lived from 1900-1982, was a student of Kazimir Malevich, a seminal Russian abstract artist famously known for his 1915 art work 'Black Square'.