Poll: Is two years in prison the right punishment for man who defaced Rothko painting?

 

Thursday 13 December 2012 14:14 GMT
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The man who scribbled on a Mark Rothko painting this week wasn’t your ordinary vandal
The man who scribbled on a Mark Rothko painting this week wasn’t your ordinary vandal

The 26-year-old man who defaced a Rothko painting hanging at London's Tate Modern gallery has been jailed for two years.

Wlodzimierz Umaniec made headlines earlier this year by scrawling his pseudonym - Vladimir Umanets - in the bottom right corner of Rothko's Black on Maroon, which has an estimated value of between £5m and £9m.

He admitted causing criminal damage in excess of £5,000 but defended his actions by saying the grafitti was part of the 'Yellowist' art movement, which he co-founded, and constituted a "gift to the nation".

Judge Roger Chapel described Umaniec as "plainly an intelligent man" - but nevertheless sentenced him to two years. Does the punishment fit the crime?

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