Jeff Koons sued over Gordon’s gin ad image
Famed pop artist Jeff Koons has been accused of unlawfully reproducing a picture used to advertise Gordon’s gin in the 1980s.
The original Gordon’s gin advert printed in 1986The Guardian reports that New York-based photographer Mitchel Gray has filed a lawsuit against Koons over his artwork ‘I could go for something Gordon’s’ (below).
Gray argues that Koons reproduced his picture of a man sitting next to a woman painting on the beach “nearly unchanged and in its entirety” without permission or compensation.
The image initially featured in a print ad for Gordon’s gin in 1986 (left).
Gray, who claims he was not aware of Koons’s work until recently, is also taking legal action against New York-based auction house Phillips Auctioneers, which sold the print for US$2.8m in 2008. The previous unnamed owner of the print is also cited in the suit.
Speaking to The Guardian, Phillips Auctioneers spokesman Michael Sherman said: “(W)e are confident that Phillips has no liability in this matter.”
Gray is now seeking unspecified damages and any profits from the alleged infringement.
While there is a three-year statute of limitations on copyright legal actions, Gray’s solicitors said this does not apply until the plaintiff learns of any alleged infringement.
Koons featured the ‘I could go for something Gordon’s’ in a drinks-themed series of paintings called ‘Luxury and Degradation’.
The artist is internationally recognised for his colorful pop art-inspired work. His sculpture ‘Balloon Dog (Orange)’ became the most expensive piece of art by a living artists sold at auction when it fetched US$58.4m in 2013.
Jeff Koons’s ‘I could go for something Gordon’s’
