Skip to content

Pittsburgh museum guard admits slashing painting

    Inquirer
    Published 

PITTSBURGH - A former guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art pleaded guilty Thursday to slashing a $1.2 million painting with a key.

James Sheets, the attorney for Timur Serebrykov, 27, said his client was getting mental health treatment and was hoping for probation. Sentencing is scheduled for April 7.

The bigger question may be how much restitution a judge makes Serebrykov pay. Sheets said the museum had paid $5,000 to repair the painting. The museum said the painting had lost $240,000 in value because of the damage; Sheets said it would take his client a lifetime to repay such a debt.

Serebrykov said he had slashed

Night Sky 2

, by the Latvian artist Vija Celmins, on May 16 because he didn't like it.

- AP

    Inquirer