It is a classic dilemma: who is the real artist, the maker or the creator? Does the performer have the most right to claim a work of art like his own, or whoever launched the idea, even if it was fabricated by someone else? The discussion already played a role in the appreciation of the authorship of Rubens (who had a studio of painters carry out ‘his’ sketches) and with Rodin, who himself did not set the chisel in the marble.
The issue is topical again. Last week, the Paris court ruled in a case in which French sculptor Daniel Druet claimed he is the artist of eight hyper-realistic wax sculptures commonly attributed to Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, such as the meteorite-stricken Pope John Paul II and the kneeling mini-Hitler.
The French sculptor had demanded 5 million euros in compensation and the right to be called ‘exclusive author’ of the eight wax sculptures. Druet, who made effigies for the Paris wax museum Grévin, claimed that he had been approached by Cattelan and his gallery in the 1990s to create a series of sculptures. And that the contract was drawn up under ‘vague’ terms and agreements. Something Emmanuel Perrotin, owner of the gallery Perrotin, admitted: ‘We were naive.’
Druet was unsuccessful in the verdict. The three judges regard Druet as a subcontractor, someone who made the images between 1999 and 2006 on behalf of Cattelan and received more than 140 thousand euros for it. The court sees the Italian as the sole creator of the work, and therefore as the rightful owner. ‘The works were always presented under the name of Cattelan’, was the verdict. “Only he took care of the staging.” Not Druet.
The disagreement between Druet and Cattelan and his gallery owner arose when some of Cattelan’s statues had to be restored; a job for which Druet was approached. But according to Perrotin he asked such ‘exorbitantly’ high sums that it was decided to end the collaboration with Druet and to ask other Italian sculptors.
Gallery Perrotin showed opposite art news are also pleased with the ruling because the case ‘potentially determines how the legal system will test conceptual art in the future’. According to the gallery, the previous 100-year-old law on authorship was unsuitable for art that emphasizes artistic ideation rather than craft execution.
Incidentally, the commotion surrounding Cattelan has not ended with the decision of the Paris court. This week, American artist Joe Morford accused the Italian of plagiarism. Work comedian van Cattelan – a banana stuck to the wall with gray duck tape – is said to have been copied from an earlier work by Morford: Banana & Orangetwo pieces of fruit that were also taped to the wall.
Both parties will soon face court in Florida. Cattelan’s version was shown at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019 and caused quite a stir. A performance artist even ate the banana on the spot. Galerie Perrotin eventually sold three copies of the banana work for a total of 390,000 euros.