Man Charged After Rothko Painting Damaged

A man has been charged with criminal damage after allegedly defacing a Mark Rothko painting at London's Tate Modern gallery.

Wlodzimierz Umaniec, 26, also known as Vladimir Umanets, is due to appear before magistrates at Camberwell Green on Wednesday morning.

The Polish national, of no fixed abode, is charged with one count of criminal damage in excess of £5,000.

He was arrested on Monday after the mural was vandalised on Sunday.

A man was seen to daub the painting before fleeing the gallery, which was shut for a short period but reopened at 3.25pm.

The gallery said it does not have a price for the defaced piece, but paintings by the Russian-born artist often fetch tens of millions of pounds.

Earlier this year, Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow sold for £53.8m - the highest price paid for a piece of post-war art at auction. The 1961 painting went under the hammer at Christie's in New York.