MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office charged 21-year-old Timothy Kubena, of Pewaukee with criminal damage to property after he allegedly severely damaged a painting at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The painting, dating back to 1640, is worth about $300,000.
Read the criminal complaint
Ottavio Vannini's 17th century painting "The Triumph of David" depicts a Biblical scene of David holding Goliath's head.
According to the criminal complaint, Kubena became enraged at the image of the severed head. So he ripped the painting off the wall and started pounding and kicking the portion of the painting showing Goliath's head on Wednesday afternoon.
The criminal complaint states Kubena told police: "That's it. I just want that gone. I'm done. I come in peace.” He then took off his shoes and shirt and laid down on the museum floor to wait for police to arrive.
Once police arrested him, the criminal complaint says Kubena told officers: "I admit to doing what the security said I did. To be honest, it felt good to kick that (expletive) painting. I premeditated this crime because I would rather be in jail than forced to be medicated."
The painting is more than six feet tall. The suspect kicked a hole smaller than a tennis ball. The museum's conservation lab believes it can be fixed so that most visitors will not be able to tell the difference.
Museum CEO and director David Gordon said staff members were nearby when the painting was attacked. "We had somebody working in the next door gallery - a member of staff. And he heard the noise and came rushing in and saw this guy kicking the painting and tried to restrain him," Gordon said. However, Gordon described the vandal as very big and difficult to restrain.
Museum security procedures are now under review. However, Gordon indicated that security is similar to other art museums across the country. "Somebody who is determined to do damage in a museum of whatever kind - they can do it," he said. Gordon does not believe the incident will cause problems when the Milwaukee Art Museum tries to borrow valuable paintings in the future.
The painting belongs to the Haukohl Family Collection. It was loaned to the museum by Milwaukee native Mark Fehrs Haukohl, who now lives in Texas. Haukohl was out of the country, but his office released a statement saying, "The Haukohl family is devastated by the destruction of this painting which dates from 1640 and is one of the most important images of this subject in history. This is a great tragedy."
Haukohl loaned a number of other paintings to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Those other works remain on display.
