A High Court dispute has erupted over the artistic credit for two portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with one artist’s legal team asserting that his rival has "no real reputation as a credible artist".
Robert Munday and his company, Spatial Imaging Limited, are pursuing legal action against Christopher Levine and his firm, Sphere9 Limited.
The claim centres on an alleged breach of contract and "moral rights" concerning two works depicting the Queen, titled Equanimity and Lightness of Being. Court documents filed last year by barristers for Mr Munday and Spatial Imaging allege that Mr Levine violated an agreement stipulating that Mr Munday would be recognised as having "co-created" the pieces.
Mr Munday is seeking a High Court declaration that he is the joint author of both the artworks and the images captured during their photoshoots.
He also requests an order for Mr Levine to credit him for the works, alongside an "inquiry as to damages".
However, Mr Levine and Sphere9 are contesting the claim. In court documents submitted on Wednesday, their lawyers stated that Mr Munday possesses "no real reputation as a credible artist", denying any breach of contract and asserting he is not entitled to damages.
Mr Levine has also initiated a counterclaim against Mr Munday for alleged copyright infringement, seeking a declaration of sole authorship for the two works and a judicial inquiry into damages.
No findings have yet been made regarding the claims.
Barrister Nick Zweck, for Mr Munday, said in court documents that after being approached by Mr Levine to work together, two photoshoots were held with the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2003 and 2004, which produced the photos used in the two portraits.
Mr Zweck said that Mr Munday “contributed most of the aspects of intellectual creation involved in the creation of Equanimity” and processed the photo used for Lightness of Being.
He continued that Mr Levine had since “persistently failed” to attribute the works to his client, in breach of an agreement made in 2005 which stated that any publicity about the works would state “the name of the artist and an acknowledgement that the artist co-created the portrait”.
In a defence to the claims, barrister Thomas Elias, for Mr Levine and Sphere9, said Mr Levine was “the sole author” of the portraits and that the 2005 agreement “notably does not go so far as to say that Mr Munday was an author of Equanimity”.
Discussing the photoshoot in 2004, Mr Elias said Mr Levine was responsible for “all the major elements of the shoot” whereas Mr Munday “spent most of the shoot in front of a computer”.
He continued that it was denied that Mr Munday or Spatial Imaging “have suffered, or will suffer, loss and damage”.
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