Italian court rules Jeff Koons cannot disown his own sculpture

In a 2019 ruling, the Milan Tribunal addressed whether an artist can legally disown their own work, specifically Jeff Koons' attempt to disavow a porcelain sculpture from his limited-edition series "The Serpents" (1988). The court found that Koons had no right to disown the piece, as he had previously authenticated it, exhibited it in Cologne in 1988, and allowed it to circulate on the market. The disputed work is numbered 2/3, with two copies in existence: one owned by Ohio University's Art Gallery (not contested by Koons) and another owned by an Italian collector (contested). The court balanced the artist's moral right to disclaim authorship against the interests of collectors and galleries, ruling that Koons failed to prove the work harmed his reputation or that grave moral reasons justified withdrawal from commerce. The decision also noted that Koons had not ordered the work's destruction. The case may be appealed or settled, as a prior dispute between the same parties was settled in 1997 before the Southern District Court of New York.