text: For a full quarter century, the extraordinary art within Houston's Menil collection has been protected from harm - until now. 
   
   
   
   The museum is confirming an act of vandalism against a painting produced in 1929 by the Spanish master Pablo Picasso. 
   
   
   
   In a video posted on YouTube, a man can be seen approaching the portrait known as "Woman in Red Arm Chair" and blasting the canvas with spray paint. The stenciled message "Conquista" and the image of a bull defacing the original. 
   
   
   
   The vandal escaped as did the photographer who may or may not be a conspirator. 
   
   
   
   According to Menil spokesman Vance Muse, the Picasso was rushed to the collection's chief conservator Brad Etley who performed immediate damage repair. 
   
   
   
   Speaking from Berlin, Germany Vance told FOX 26, "The most important thing is to get the painting to full health, which is happening. All the spray paint has been removed. It is in the right hospital. The painting now needs to rest." 
   
   
   
   Meantime, Houston Police confirm the case is under very active investigation as "criminal mischief," a crime carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident. 
   
   
   
   In addition to the YouTube video, detectives also have the Menil's own surveillance tape to help capture those responsible. 
   
   
   
   A representative for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston says "appropriate" security measures have been taken at that institution. 
   
   
   
   "Woman in Red Arm Chair" has been a part of the Menil collection since 1956. 
   
   On the web: http://www.menil.org/ 
   
   ||||| Vandal defaces Menil Collection Picasso Repairs are under way, museum says 
   
   ***WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE*** 
   
   Officials at the Menil Collection don't know why a man spray-painted Pablo Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" at the museum, but the act wasn't caught just on surveillance cameras. 
   
   It also was captured by a bystander with a smartphone camera and subsequently posted on YouTube with a caption naming the alleged perpetrator as a young artist. 
   
   Menil communications director Vance Muse, reached Monday in Germany, said museum security discovered the vandalism almost immediately Wednesday afternoon. 
   
   The damaged artwork, with the spray paint barely dry, was rushed down the hall to the museum's conservation lab, where chief conservator Brad Epley quickly began its repair. 
   
   The 1929 painting, one of nine by Picasso owned by the Menil, has "an excellent prognosis," Muse said. 
   
   The vandal, who has not been identified officially, stenciled a small image of a bullfighter killing a bull and the word "Conquista" on the painting. He fled and wasn't caught. 
   
   Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties said the vandalism was being investigated as a criminal mischief case. Anyone who witnessed the attack or has information is asked to call 713-308-0900. 
   
   KPRC (Channel 2) interviewed a man who said he captured the vandalism on his phone camera. The witness told Channel 2 the man identified himself as an up-and-coming Mexican-American artist looking to honor Picasso's work. 
   
   John and Dominique de Menil acquired "Woman in a Red Armchair" in 1956. It has been displayed often since the Menil Collection opened in 1987 and has been loaned to other museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 
   
   The Menil also owns 14 drawings, a terra-cotta sculpture and more than 100 prints by Picasso. 
   
   Muse said the incident brought to mind an act in 1974, when artist Tony Shafrazi, who later became a gallery owner, defaced Picasso's masterpiece "Guernica" at the Museum of Modern Art. 
   
   molly.glentzer@chron.com
target: – Police in Houston are searching for a vandal who spray-painted a Picasso painting. The man was captured on camera using a stencil to paint an image of a bull and the word "Conquista" on the Spanish master's 1929 "Woman in a Red Armchair," reports the Houston Chronicle. A bystander who videoed the man in action says the vandal identified himself as an up-and-coming Mexican-American artist who wanted to "honor" Picasso's work. The painting, one of nine Picassos in Houston's Menil collection, was rushed to the museum's on-site conservation lab and experts say the prognosis is good. "The most important thing is to get the painting to full health, which is happening," a museum spokesman tells Fox. "All the spray paint has been removed. It is in the right hospital. The painting now needs to rest." If the vandal is caught, he will face a charge of criminal mischief with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.