The real, surprising reason artist painted over controversial Russian-Ukrainian soldier mural

The artist said it was always his intention to remove the public artwork display and sell NFTs.

The mural was painted over by artist Peter Seaton following heated community criticism that described the artwork as "offensive". Source: SBS News

Key Points

• The artist who painted the mural of a Russian and Ukrainian soldier said he removed it to drive up the NFT's value.
• He said he did not paint over the mural because of the community anger, though it played a small part in his decision.

The artist who created a controversial mural featuring a Russian and Ukrainian solder hugging says he painted over it to increase the financial value of the digital version of the artwork.

Members of the Ukrainian community strongly criticised artist Peter Seaton following the mural he painted in Kings Way in Melbourne to promote peace amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But he told SBS News that, despite what people may think, he did not paint over the mural because of the community anger, although it played a small part in his decision.

"I painted over the artwork because it gives value to the NFT. That was always my intention," he said.

Mr Seaton was referring to non-fungible tokens, which are digital assets that can be bought and sold as unique, collectable items.

They have become a popular way to sell digital art.

He said while he "may have caved into the pressure of community anger", he was always going to remove the public artwork to increase the rarity of his NFTs, which would hike up the price of the digital artwork.

The digital version of the piece shows the soldiers on the mural wall for a few seconds before being blown up by an animated explosion.

The NFT is being sold on the website OpenSea, where five of the 12 pieces have sold for a total of 0.40 Ether, or around $1,000.

Mr Seaton said he will be donating all of the funds to a crisis appeal that can assist Ukrainian communities who have been affected by the war. He said he has not yet decided which charity organisation he will donate the money to.

"The medium of the artwork is a digital format. The artwork needs to be seen as a whole, and the public mural can be taken out of context," he said.

The criticism came from Australia's Ukrainian community who deemed the mural "utterly offensive", describing an embrace between the two soldiers as drawing a false equivalence between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Seaton apologised in a video he posted online this week, saying: "I apologise heavily to the Ukrainian people if I've offended them with this work, and obviously I have and it's not my intention.

"My intention was to promote peace."

He also later revealed the artwork was painted over quicker than he would have liked after seeing it being vandalised with "Slava Ukraini" (translating to 'Glory to Ukraine') the comment "f--- [Vladimir] Putin" and more.

Peter Seaton painted over the mural quickly after it was vandalised with the words "Slava Ukraini", "f--- Putin", among other comments in Ukrainian. Source: Supplied / Peter Seaton

He said he was uncomfortable with swear words covering his mural that could be seen by children.

'Take down the NFT'

Representative of community organisation Art4Ukraine Australia, Danylo Stefyn, said Mr Seaton's intention to keep the artwork circulating online is an indication he did not understand why the Ukrainian community was hurt.

"We're really looking for some kind of dialogue and co-operation ... artists shouldn't be doing this to antagonise a wounded community," Mr Stefyn said.

He said the most appropriate thing for him to do was to take down the NFTs.

While Mr Stefyn said he respects artistic freedom and his intention to raise funds for Ukraine, the donations were never highlighted by Mr Seaton as a "central object" of his art.

"I really respect his creative process and his desire to assist but in the grand scheme of things is great if there's money that's already been collected, let's work together to find some kind of creative construct for it," he said.

"The better thing to do would be to take down the NFT especially as he was been saying that the intention of the mural was just to drive up the price of the entities."

Mr Stefyn also raised concerns about the artist's "ambiguity" over the choice of charity and "unclear motivations" behind removing the artwork.

"One moment he's apologising for offending the Ukrainian community, and the next minute he's out there on media, talking about how great it is," he said.

"Don't play the victim if your intention always was to drive up the prices."

Art4Ukraine has tried to contact Mr Seaton multiple times to collaborate on a mural that illustrates common themes of peace. The group has not yet heard back from the artist.