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According to the newspaper, the employee, a 51-year-old man, worked as a technician at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich but also moonlighted as a freelance artist.
The Pinakothek der Moderne contains works by the likes of Salvador Dalí and Henri Matisse, which can sell for tens of millions of dollars.
Police told Süddeutsche Zeitung that the man hoped that smuggling his artwork into the museum would help him to have an “artistic breakthrough.”
The art world is famously hard to crack, often demanding not only skill but also connections and name recognition. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh were often dismissed in their own lifetimes.
This incident appears to show someone going to extreme lengths to try to short-circuit that process.
The now-fired worker had access to exhibition rooms outside opening hours, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported. At some point, he hung his painting on a gallery wall, although it’s unclear how long it was up before somebody realized, according to the newspaper.
After it was discovered, it was returned to the worker, according to the newspaper. The man was barred from the premises and fired, it added.
Police are now investigating the man for a lesser offense — property damage.
According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, he drilled two holes into the wall to put up his painting, which may constitute damage to the museum.
The Pinakothek der Moderne did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
In an incident last November, also in Germany, another artist tried a similar strategy, although she had markedly more success with it.
Danai Emmanouilidis smuggled her painting into an exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. The museum praised the artwork, which has since been auctioned off, with proceeds going to an arts charity for refugees.
