Collector Sues Louis Vuitton Over Handbag Fabric Sold As Art

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Apr 23rd 2009 at 11:02PM

Usually Louis Vuitton is on the suing end of lawsuits but it currently finds itself as the sued. Clint Arthur, who purchased several works by Takashi Murakami at the Vuitton boutique set up at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, is suing both Vuitton and the MOCA. Arthur first filed a lawsuit a year ago over a lack of proper documentation in regards to the two limited-edition prints he bought for a total of $12,000 in 2007. But now Clint Arthur considers himself the victim of a fraud after finding out, through an interview that the show curator Paul Schimmel did with ARTINFO in 2007 tthat the prints are made from the same materials as Murakami handbags. Basically Arthur could have bought himself a handbag for around $1,000 with the same fabric and some bonus hardware too.

Louis Vuitton says the blurring of art and commerce is part of the Murakami experience. Vuitton points out that Arthur has declined an offer of $12,000 plus interest which Vuitton alleges shows that the suit is just a bid for publicity and profit. Arthur for his part seems to be angry and driven by an urge to get to the bottom of the motives of both Murakami and Louis Vuitton. A hearing is scheduled for Monday on the motion to dismiss from Louis Vuitton.

Tags: louis vuitton, LouisVuitton, museum of contemporary art, MuseumOfContemporaryArt, takashi murakami, TakashiMurakami

Filed under: Art

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Clint DeKoekkoek Apr 24th 2009 9:33AM

To quote Warhol "Art is what you can get away with."
Mr. Arthur Clearly doesn't get it.

just me Apr 24th 2009 10:48AM

Okay, I clicked the link to the LA Times story, and it does a better job a filling in the information, and provides a picture of the 'prints' in question. From looking at the prints, I wonder, if the fabric has never been presented for sale in this format before, then indeed the material is limited edition, even if the fabric is the same fabric used to make the bags. They are unique in that case.

Now why people think a square of fabric is worth $12,000 in the first place is beyond me, I mean, caveat emptor indeed.

I just don't see fraud here. I simply see some bad buying.