No sooner had the Rothko defaced painting news hit the headlines, a man claimed responsibility for it, reports The Telegraph.

Black On Maroon, The Mark Rothko painting worth tens of millions of pounds, was hanging at The Tate Modern, when Vladimir Umanets nonchalantly strolled up to it and wrote “Vladimir Umanets, A Potential Piece of Yellowism.” directly onto the canvas. "Some people think I'm crazy or a vandal, but my intention was not to destroy or decrease the value, or to go crazy. I am not a vandal," he said after admitting to writing on the piece, but insists it was not vandalism. "I don't need to be famous, I don't want money, I don't want fame, I'm not seeking attention," he added, before, on the subject of prison, he explained: "I believe that from everything bad there's always a good outcome so I'm prepared for that but obviously I don't want to spend a few months, even a few weeks, in jail. But I do strongly believe in what I am doing, I have dedicated my life to this." Mr Umanets, who studied art, is one of the founders of "Yellowism", which he describes as "neither art, nor anti-art".

Julia Nagle, a painting conservator, suggested the painting was not irreparable: "I have every faith it will be cleaned off,” she said. “They're delicate surfaces and it's important not to rub them but there's a massive body of research into Rothko and his techniques and a great conservation department at the Tate.”