More than £9 million could have been cut from the value of a Mark Rothko painting vandalised at Tate Modern, a court heard today.
The piece, called Black on Maroon was worth an estimated £50 million before last month’s attack.
It will cost £200,000 to restore but may still lose millions from its value, the court was told.
The irreversible damage to the work, which will take up to 18 months to repair, was revealed as Wlodzimierz Umaniec, 26, was due to be sentenced today.
Umaniec, who also calls himself Vladimir Umanets, calmly signed his name in ink and wrote “12 A potential piece of Yellowism” on the Rothko canvas in front of horrified art-lovers at the South Bank gallery.
However, his sentencing was postponed to allow for the preparation of reports.
Inner London crown court heard there may need to be a Newton hearing — a trial by judge — to decide whether Umaniec should be sentenced on the basis of repair costs or the devaluation of the painting.
Gareth Morgan, representing Umaniec who has already pleaded guilty to a single charge of criminal damage, said that an expert had claimed that the value lost could be “between £5 million and £9.3 million”.
Umaniec, a former graphic designer and cleaner, was born in Russia but had been living in a squat in Feltham. He was arrested the day after the attack after giving a number of interviews to the media.
Umaniec, now of Worthing, West Sussex, originally claimed to have added value to the work, but pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage in excess of £5,000 in the attack on Sunday, October 7 when he appeared before magistrates.
Judge Robert Fraser said it was “inescapable” that the reduction in value would have to be taken into account at sentence. It will be decided later today whether a Newton hearing will take place.
