Picasso vandal video goes viral

Uriel Landeros surrendered to authorities Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, at the U.S.-Mexico border, his attorney said. He had been on the run since Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" was spray-painted on June 13 at the Menil Collection. less Uriel Landeros surrendered to authorities Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, at the U.S.-Mexico border, his attorney said. He had been on the run since Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" was spray-painted on June 13 at ... more Photo: Crime Stoppers Photo: Crime Stoppers Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Picasso vandal video goes viral 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

It only took about a day for a YouTube video of a man in a black suit and sunglasses vandalizing a Pablo Picasso painting at the Menil to go viral after news of the incident broke early this week.

It took even less time for the alleged vandal's name - Uriel Landeros - to hit the Internet.

The detective work wasn't fancy. The man who captured the act at The Menil Collection in Houston with his smartphone camera on June 13 posted the video on YouTube, naming and identifying Landeros in the caption.

Evidence pointing to the 22-year-old man as the possible culprit continued to mount before he was charged in the vandalism Friday. Cryptic Twitter posts by Landeros - such as his March 29 tweet "one day pablo one day" - were re-posted throughout the week.

In another tweet on April 19, Landeros wrote "la bestia se conquista," roughly translated from Spanish as "the beast is conquered."

In the 24-second video of the incident, the suspect uses spray paint to stencil the small image of a bullfighter killing a bull and the word "conquista," meaning to conquer, on the canvas.

"It's sort of foreshadowing what his intentions were, and we did take that into account," said Harris County Assistant District Attorney John Lewis, whose office filed the charges.

Police are still searching for Landeros and others who may be involved in vandalizing the painting, "Woman in a Red Armchair," valued at several million dollars. Landeros has been charged with criminal mischief and felony graffiti, both third-degree felonies.

Persons of interest

Little is known about the suspect. His Facebook page indicates that along with making art - he recently participated in a showing - he attended the University of Houston and also plays rugby. His last visible Facebook post Tuesday afternoon was a link to a news clip from a local news station about the vandalized Picasso.

Although no one else has been charged in the crime, there are several other persons of interests in the case, Lewis said.

Some public suspicion has been cast on the cameraman behind the YouTube video, with people wondering whether he was working with Landeros or really was just a museum patron.

The man who claimed to have shot the video contacted a local news station and said in an interview that he was texting on his phone when he caught the vandal spray-painting the Picasso.

Meanwhile, repair and restoration of the 1929 oil on canvas is continuing, museum spokesman Vance Muse said by email Friday.

Museum officials discovered the vandalism almost immediately after the incident. The artwork, with the spray paint barely dry, was rushed down the hall to the museum's conservation lab, where its repair began.

Nine Picassos at Menil

John and Dominique de Menil acquired "Woman in a Red Armchair" in 1956. It has been displayed often since the Menil opened in 1987 and has been loaned to other museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is one of nine paintings by Picasso owned by the Menil.

Anyone with information about Landeros' location or any one involved in the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). All tipsters remain anonymous.

Chronicle reporter Carol Christian contributed to this report.

anita.hassan@chron.com