© Fondation Louis Vuitton : Martin Raphaël Martiq
Druet is additionally asking for roughly $5.25 million in damages from Galerie Perrotin, which represents Cattelan, and the Monnaie de Paris, which held a retrospective of the Italian artist’s work in 2016. The French master of moulage contends that Cattelan in the late 1990s asked him to create a dozen sculptures and that he did so, but under “vague” terms of agreement. Perrotin corroborated Druet’s assessment of the accord, confirming that no contract was discussed, with dealer and owner Emmanuel Perrotin characterizing the gallery’s attitude as “naïve.” Druet and Perrotin agree that the French sculptor was compensated for his efforts at the time.
The trial concerning the matter is to begin May 13. Speaking with Artnews on behalf of Perrotin, attorney Pierre Olivier-Sur argued that the “hundred-year-old case law currently governing the criteria to determine an artwork’s authorship is unsuitable for conceptual art.” Sur further noted, “If precedent does not evolve, it could have serious consequences for the actors of the art world.”