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Of art and thievery

John Hooper

ROME: The man recently named as the world's most influential artist has been accused of stealing ideas from a former lover, herself an internationally renowned figure in the art world.

Maurizio Cattelan is Italy's most successful contemporary artist.

In 2004 after his sculpture of a hanging horse, The Ballad of Trotsky, was auctioned for $1.2 million, ArtReview magazine put him at number four on a list of the art world's big names. It was the highest ranking for any artist.

An inveterate prankster, Cattelan once persuaded a curator to dress up for the sake of art in a pink bunny suit.

But the latest controversy was ignited in an interview published last month by the Italian edition of Vanity Fair.

The Genoa-born artist Vanessa Beecroft — best known for her disturbing installations of living, almost nude, models — says she had had an affair with Cattelan before either became famous and that she was the source for many of his ideas.

"It was in 1990," she said. "To support myself, I worked in a gallery in Milan. All I really did was open and close the door. One day he turned up. I didn't know who he was and he tried to persuade me to steal the works in the gallery. Later he introduced himself and we saw each other for a period. I've always been infatuated with him. He gave me very beautiful presents — objects taken from the rubbish."

Mutual rivalry

Asked how the affair ended, Beecroft was quoted as replying: "It ended with there being a lot of rivalry between us. Every time that I tell him something, he turns it into reality."

Cattelan's output is varied whereas Beecroft, who has bulimia, has remained obsessed with getting her public to confront its ideas about the female body. Nevertheless, there is a similarity between two works the artists produced in 2002, both involving representations of human beings standing on their heads: Milan seen by Beecroft, and Cattelan's Frank and Jamie.

Confronted with Beecroft's claims this week, Cattelan neither confirmed their affair, nor denied specifically the insinuation of plagiarism.

Of their alleged romance, he said: "I have the right to remain in silence. Whatever I say could be used against me."

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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