A MAN accused of vandalising a 1929 Pablo Picasso painting in a US museum - an act caught on mobile phone video - has agreed to a two-year prison term as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Uriel Landeros had faced felony graffiti and criminal mischief charges accusing him of spray-painting Woman in a Red Armchair at the Menil Collection in Houston.

Emily Detoto, Landeros' lawyer, said that after negotiating with prosecutors during a court hearing, her client on Tuesday agreed to plead guilty to the graffiti charge in exchange for a minimal prison sentence.

The other charge was dropped. Landeros had faced up to 10 years in prison.

Detoto said Landeros, 22, wanted the criminal mischief charge dismissed because he believed the act was an "artistic statement".

"He acknowledged what he did was wrong in terms of he caused damage to the painting. But he also understood that a lot of times to make a point you have to go to these extremes," she said.

The painting was damaged June 13 and a bystander captured the act in a 24-second video that was posted on YouTube. The vandal left behind an image of a bullfighter, a bull and the word "conquista," the Spanish word for conquest.

Landeros, a US citizen, fled to Mexico but surrendered to authorities at the US-Mexico border in January.

"It's good the judicial process has done its work and come to a conclusion," said Menil spokesman Vance Muse, who said the painting's restoration was close to completion.

The vandalism garnered Landeros national attention, and a Houston art gallery raised the ire of the local art community in October by staging a show of his works.