Ukrainians took to the internet Thursday to lambaste star US artist Jeff Koons over his latest New York installation, a huge sculpture that appears remarkably similar to a work by a Ukrainian artist who died in 1993.
Koons has said his 14-metre (45-foot) -high inflatable "Seated Ballerina", installed this month above the statue of Hercules at Rockefeller Center, was inspired by a small Russian porcelain figurine from the end of the 19th century.
But many Ukrainians are crying foul, calling it a ripoff of "The Ballerina Lenochka", a porcelain statuette by Oksana Zhnikrup (1931-1993).
A spokeswoman for Koons, Lauran Rothstein, told AFP in an email that "We are aware of Oksana Zhnikrup's work and have a license to use it for Mr. Koons's work."
That apparently did little to calm Ukrainian tempers against the neo-pop artist.
"I hope that he has noted the source of his inspiration. If he forgot to do so, I advise the Ukrainian government to file a case," Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roitburd said in a Facebook post.
"America will be surprised to see that we don't have just corruption and war, but also art," he said.
Koons has been accused of plagiarism before: In March he was ordered to pay a fine over his "Naked" sculpture, which was deemed a "counterfeit" of a French photograph.
Before that, he had been accused three times of copying works, and convicted twice.
Ukrainians took to the internet Thursday to lambaste star US artist Jeff Koons over his latest New York installation, a huge sculpture that appears remarkably similar to a work by a Ukrainian artist who died in 1993.
Koons has said his 14-metre (45-foot) -high inflatable “Seated Ballerina”, installed this month above the statue of Hercules at Rockefeller Center, was inspired by a small Russian porcelain figurine from the end of the 19th century.
But many Ukrainians are crying foul, calling it a ripoff of “The Ballerina Lenochka”, a porcelain statuette by Oksana Zhnikrup (1931-1993).
A spokeswoman for Koons, Lauran Rothstein, told AFP in an email that “We are aware of Oksana Zhnikrup’s work and have a license to use it for Mr. Koons’s work.”
That apparently did little to calm Ukrainian tempers against the neo-pop artist.
“I hope that he has noted the source of his inspiration. If he forgot to do so, I advise the Ukrainian government to file a case,” Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roitburd said in a Facebook post.
“America will be surprised to see that we don’t have just corruption and war, but also art,” he said.
Koons has been accused of plagiarism before: In March he was ordered to pay a fine over his “Naked” sculpture, which was deemed a “counterfeit” of a French photograph.
Before that, he had been accused three times of copying works, and convicted twice.
