A recent Louis Vuitton ad campaign has put the French luxury fashion label in the spotlight for copyright infringement allegations by the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Less than a day after the campaign was released, the Joan Mitchell Foundation sent a cease-and-desist demand to Louis Vuitton, demanding the brand promptly remove the campaign and issue a public apology.
Commercial images for the fashion brand’s Spring/Summer 2023 ad campaign feature actress Léa Seydoux posing with Louis Vuitton handbags in front of a trio of Joan Mitchell’s vibrantly colored abstract-expressionist paintings.
Ironically, the artist’s paintings are currently on display as part of the “Monet-Mitchell” exhibition at Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
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The Joan Mitchell Foundation stated that the Foundation Louis Vuitton previously requested the rights to use the paintings for advertising purposes on multiple occasions but was denied.
Requests were denied due to the foundation’s longstanding policy of promoting Mitchell’s art exclusively for educational purposes.
“We have documentation of the request. We have all of our agreements, all spelled out, and it was just disregarded,” Blatchford added.
The Joan Mitchell Foundation has announced that if Louis Vuitton does not comply with the requests, it will proceed with further legal action. Louis Vuitton and Foundation Louis Vuitton have made no public comments thus far.
“It’s important for folks to understand that this wasn’t something we agreed to. How did it even happen, is my question,” said the foundation’s executive director Christa Blatchford in an interview with ARTnews.
