Man arrested over Rothko vandalism

The 26-year-old, believed to be former art student Vladimir Umanets who has claimed responsibility for defacing the work, was arrested by Sussex Police at an address in Worthing.

The work, Black on Maroon (1958), one of the Seagram murals, was defaced on Sunday afternoon when a man approached the piece and appeared to scribble a tag in the bottom right hand corner (see tweet from eyewitness, below).

Just saw this Rothko painting being defaced #tatemodern twitter.com/WrightTG/statuâ?¦

— Tim Wright (@WrightTG) October 7, 2012

Yesterday, Mr Umanets claimed responsibility, but denied it was an act of vandalism. “Some people think I’m crazy or a vandal, but my intention was not to destroy or decrease the value, or to go crazy. I am not a vandal.”

Read Culture Editor Matthew Cain's blog, 'Rothklo vandalism: Art or cheap comment?'

He is a member of the Yellowism movement, which describes itself as “not art or anti-art”.

“I believe that from everything bad there’s always a good outcome so I’m prepared for that but obviously I don’t want to spend a few months, even a few weeks, in jail,” he added.

“But I do strongly believe in what I am doing, I have dedicated my life to this.”

Police escorted the arrested man to a London police station where he stayed overnight.