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<\/p>\nMoney-spinning portraits of the late Queen are at the centre of a legal battle after one of their creators accused the other of whitewashing his creative involvement and then creating \u201cdistasteful\u201d variations.<\/p>\n
The two holographic portraits were created from sittings with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace two decades ago by, according to court documents, the contemporary artists Robert Munday and Chris Levine.<\/p>\n
Equanimity is described as the first ever holographic portrait \u2014 a three-dimensional image \u2014 of the Queen, and Lightness of Being is described as a \u201csubtle subversion\u201d of royal portraiture by showing the monarch with her eyes closed. Prints of the artworks are held by the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Collection.<\/p>\n
According to legal papers seen by The Times, however, Munday has accused Levine of a breach of their contract over the portrait commission and infringing his moral rights by failing to give him due credit for the creation.<\/p>\n
He also claims Levine is responsible for \u201cdistasteful\u201d distortions of the \u201cdignified\u201d original works with the use of \u201clurid\u201d and \u201cgarish\u201d colours in subsequent versions, including the application of luminous pink lipstick to the Queen.<\/p>\n
Levine recently settled a case with the Jersey Heritage Trust, which had commissioned Equanimity to celebrate the island\u2019s 800-year allegiance to the crown, after it accused him of failing to give it its 20 per cent commission on nearly \u00a34 million of sales of the portraits since 2017.<\/p>\n
It was alleged that he sold nearly 300 copies of the portraits during this period. The details of the settlement are confidential.<\/p>\n
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Chris Levine with the two artworks in 2015<\/p>\n
SAM MELLISH\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
In the new claim lodged at the High Court this month, Munday accused Levine of breaching their contract over the commission, which decreed that in any promotion of the artworks they should be presented as an equal collaboration between the two.<\/p>\n
The claim outlines various instances of Levine allegedly advertising the portraits as his own work in galleries, auction houses and on his own website and social media accounts.<\/p>\n
Levine said that he rejected the claim \u201cin its entirety\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Munday was engaged by me as a technical subcontractor as one of my team, to build the camera system and assist in production. He was not an artistic partner or co-author in any way,\u201d Levine said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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Rob Munday with Equanimity in 2022<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an ongoing attempt to rewrite history and the motives are obvious. Any claim on my rights will be fiercely defended. This is my art. Facts don\u2019t change 20 years later because the work became iconic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Levine said that he denied the 2005 contract \u201chas the legal effect that Mr Munday suggests it does\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2022 King Charles and Jonathan Yeo: the making of a viral portrait<\/a><\/p>\n The two portraits are among the most recognisable from the reign of the Queen, who is, according to the National Portrait Gallery, the most portrayed individual in history. She is thought to have sat for about 150 portraits. The National Portrait Gallery has 976 photographic and painted images of her in its collection alone.<\/p>\n The original holographic artwork, Equanimity, was hailed as groundbreaking upon its creation and the most high-tech portrait the Queen had ever been involved in. Reportedly, however, the Queen thought it made her look \u201clike an old woman lost in a wood\u201d.<\/p>\n Equanimity, on display at Bonhams auction house in London, 2022<\/p>\n WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ\/ANADOLU AGENCY\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Munday has rejected Levine\u2019s claim that he was not an \u201cartistic partner\u201d, describing himself as a \u201ccontemporary artist working predominantly in the field of holography and lenticular imaging\u201d. He ran the world\u2019s first creative holography course at the Royal College of Art in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Although the creation of holograms is a highly technical process, they have been described by cultural institutions as an artistic medium. The National Portrait Gallery describes both Munday and Levine as \u201cartist and producer\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/c5d41e83-0fad-47e5-b71f-c6275f642b42.jpg\")
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