Ex-museum guard guilty of slashing $1.2M artwork

January 24, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

PITTSBURGH — A former guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has pleaded guilty to slashing a $1.2 million painting with a key.

James Sheets, the attorney for 27-year-old Timur Serebrykov, says his client is getting mental health treatment and is hoping for probation.

The bigger question may be how much restitution he is ordered to pay. Sentencing is set for April 7.

Serebrykov slashed “Night Sky 2” by Latvian-born artist Vija Celmins last May because he didn’t like it. It was on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago. He entered the vandalism plea Thursday.

Sheets says it cost $5,000 to repair the painting. But he says prosecutors estimate it’s worth $240,000 less than before.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Ernest Borgnine is 92. Actor Jerry Maren (Lollipop Kid from “The Wizard of Oz”) is 90. Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw is 73. Singer Ray Stevens is 70. Singer Aaron Neville is 68. Singer Neil Diamond is 68. Actor Michael Ontkean (“Twin Peaks”) is 63. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 58. Actress Nastassja Kinski is 50. Drummer Keech Rainwater of Lonestar is 46. Actress Tatyana Ali (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) is 30. Actress Mischa Barton (“The O.C.”) is 23.