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Rauschenberg's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

By ARTINFO

Published: February 29, 2008
NAPLES, Fla.—The artist Robert Rauschenberg is suing another artist, Robert Fontaine, and a Naples, Fla., art gallery, HW Gallery, for pilfering discarded artwork from Rauschenberg’s trash and selling it under Rauschenberg’s name, complete with bogus certificates of authenticity, USA Today reports. Fontaine’s attorney, Yale Freeman, said the case will address important issues surrounding an artist’s rights to work they throw away. "Rauschenberg is an incredible artist," Freeman said. "But what happens when that incredible artist discards material? Do the laws of abandonment apply?"

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