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Yoko Ono Accused Of Altering John Lennon's Artwork
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 13, 2011
Modified Oct 13, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 13, 2011
Modified Oct 13, 2011
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Lennon's art in color, and B&W
Last weekend Yoko Ono celebrated the late John Lennon's birthday in SoHo, and it was a far cry from the Lennon parties of the past. At this one, Ono was selling "the artwork of John Lennon" to benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels. And now ArtInfo is calling Ono out for selling counterfeit pieces, after collectors who paid thousands of dollars for prints are complaining they were sold "cut and paste mash-ups."
Ono was selling pieces as "lithographs, serigraphs, and copper etchings hand printed from the original drawings," but allegedly they were "recomposed and colored by Ono... rather than Lennon prints." At least one man accused Ono of altering her late husband's work, telling AI, "The so-called 'Artwork of John Lennon' being offered for sale in SoHo this weekend was actually posthumously forged in color and new compositions, each part of bogus editions with counterfeit John Lennon chop mark/signatures."
This isn't the first time Ono has been accused of altering Lennon's work. In 2010 she wanted to add color to one of his pieces, saying, "at least let me color it because John probably would not have minded it if I did it." [via Animal]
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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