A German art museum fired an employee for hanging his own painting in the gallery.

The collaborator exhibited his work at Munich’s Pinakothek for Contemporary Art "in the hope of achieving a breakthrough."

According to a quote commonly — if erroneously — attributed to the artist Andy Warhol, everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame. At Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne museum earlier this year, one technician and aspiring artist was given the opportunity to bask in the glory for eight hours.

A museum in southern Germany confirmed Tuesday that it had fired a maintenance worker after it emerged that he had hung one of his own paintings in a section of the gallery dedicated to contemporary art, allowing him to share space for the day with works by pop art pioneer Warhol..

The 51-year-old took his work to an exhibition at Munich’s Pinakothek of Modern Art "in the hope of making an artistic breakthrough," German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing police sources.

“The employee considers himself an artist and most likely viewed his role on the museum’s installation team as a part-time job to support his true calling,” a Pinakothek spokesman told the Guardian.

Working at the museum, the man had access to the gallery after hours and therefore did not attract the attention of security staff when he installed his 60cm by 120cm work on a blank white wall in an aisle in the ground floor gallery of the east wing.

The incident, which occurred on February 23, became known only on Monday. A Pinakothek spokesman said the painting was hung in the early hours and staff noticed it shortly after the museum opened that day.

“The decision was made to keep the painting on display while the gallery is open and to remove it after closing at 6 p.m.,” the spokesperson added.

The Pinakothek said it would not comment on the plot or style of the film, as this could “push pranksters.” “I can only say that we have not received any positive feedback about the addition from gallery visitors,” the spokesman said.

The gallery said it terminated the contract with the technical support employee and banned him from the gallery premises.

Police are investigating an aspiring modern artist for a relatively minor infraction: he allegedly drilled two holes in a gallery wall to hang his painting, prompting the museum to file a police report for malicious damage to property.

Located in Munich’s Kunstareal museum quarter, the Pinakothek Contemporary Art is divided into exhibitions dedicated to art, architecture, design and works on paper from the 20th and 21st centuries. Its permanent collection contains more than 20,000 works, including paintings by Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann and Paul Klee.