The War Of The Super-Realists

A well-respected art gallery owner discovers her former assistant and his father, one of the gallery's artists, are now the competition, having opened their own space across the street. A celebrated sculptor discovers her studio assistant of many years has begun working in her style and selling look-alike sculptures for half the price.

After a failed attempt to woo the famous sculptor away from the long-established gallery, the neophyte gallery owner instead joins forces with the sculptor's former assistant. They put on an exhibit that opens within weeks of the famous artist's show across the street.

Accusations are hurled, the principals scurry back and forth taking photographs of each other's work, and a lawsuit is filed.

Stranger Than Fiction

This may sound like the sort of intrigue in a Danielle Steele novel, but the dueling exhibits are real and can be found on Job's Lane in Southampton Village, and the lawsuit in United States District Court in Brooklyn. The story, it seems, is too far-fetched to be fiction.

It begins two years ago, when Carole Feuerman, a noted sculptor of hyper-realistic, life-sized figures, and her assistant, John von Schmid, parted ways. Ms. Feuerman, who has been doing what she calls figurative realism for 22 years, donated one piece to President and First Lady Clinton's private collection in the White House, had another piece sell at a Sotheby's auction for $37,500, and had others purchased by such notables as Henry Kissinger and Malcolm Forbes.

She told The Star that Mr. von Schmid stopped working for her when she was moving her studio from Nassau County to Manhattan. Mr. von Schmid, who lived in Westbury, did not want to commute. They remained friendly, though, and she later hired him to help with a commissioned work in North Carolina.

"Slavish Imitations"

Roberta von Schlossberg, owner of R.V.S. Fine Arts at 48 Job's Lane, and her 22-year-old gallery director, Troy Buckner, parted ways last year. Mr. Buckner declined to be interviewed and Ms. von Schlossberg is traveling for the summer, but word has it their parting was not entirely friendly.

With his father, Hal Buckner, a sculptor who used to show at R.V.S., the younger Mr. Buckner opened his own gallery at 43 Job's Lane in the spring. His first show at the Sculpture Court, as his gallery is named, included startlingly lifelike sculptures by John von Schmid. It was Mr. von Schmid's first show.

Ms. Feuerman, who has been showing at R.V.S for more than a decade, opened her annual summer show there on June 28. In her lawsuit, filed Aug. 1, Ms. Feuerman charged her former assistant with "making slavish imitations . . . with the intention of capitalizing on my reputation and good will."

Allegations

Ms. Feuerman is suing both Mr. von Schmid and Troy Buckner, demanding an injunction, a jury trial, and monetary damages. A court hearing is to be held in two weeks.

The suit alleges that Mr. von Schmid's piece "First Dive," which depicts a young girl wearing scuba gear, used the face of the subject in Ms. Feuerman's "Islamorada" and the diving outfit in her work "Scuba."

"Scuba" was the piece auctioned at Sotheby's in 1990 for $37,500. "Islamorada," a 1988 sculpture that shows a little girl in a bathing suit stepping from the water covered with water drops, is in the Clintons' personal collection.

A few artists before Ms. Feuerman have worked in the Super-Realistic style, but she contends her techniques are hers and hers alone.

Yearlong Work

She casts live models in plaster and then reproduces their images in polyester resin and vinyl, using oil paints to add minute details, such as veins, pores, and beauty marks. Their clothes are made of the same resin as their bodies, which sets her apart from the Rockwellian sculptures of the late Duane Hanson, a pioneer of the style who dressed his figures in real clothes.

Her pieces can take as long as a year to complete. Human hair is attached one strand at a time. Most of her figures are shown emerging from the sea, the shower, or some sweat-inducing activity, and water drops that are as clear as the real thing are made from a secret formula. Secret, that is, to all except her former assistant.

Her lawsuit claims the formula had "never been replicated" until Mr. von Schmid's work appeared at the Sculpture Court.

Corine Sullivan, the new R.V.S. director, said neither she nor Ms. von Schlossberg would comment on the dueling exhibits. "It is regrettable that this situation has occurred, but the R.V.S. Gallery anticipates an amicable solution," Ms. Sullivan said.

Mr. von Schmid, reached by phone, said twice that he had another call on the line and had to hang up. He did not respond to a subsequent message by press time. His lawyer, Tennison Schad, called The Star, however, to say the charges in Ms. Feuerman's lawsuit were "totally false." With the Manhattan firm of Norwick and Schad, he also is representing the younger Mr. Buckner and the Sculpture Court.

An anonymous tipster alerted The Star on Friday to the battle on Job's Lane, taking Ms. Feuerman's part. A second caller, on Saturday, said that Ms. Feuerman did not like competition.

No Other Suit

Her lawyer, John B. Koegel, had sent a letter in January to a Wisconsin artist, Mark Sijon, who, she alleged, was imitating her work. Mr. Sijon said his lawyer had advised him to not discuss the matter. Ms. Feuerman said she believed Mr. Sijon had gotten the message and that she would not sue him.

For his part, Troy Buckner asserted on Friday "there really isn't, in my mind, a situation." He declined to comment further.

The suit claims the younger Mr. Buckner had tried to woo her away from R.V.S., at first saying R.V.S. was no longer interested in showing her work and then offering her 70 percent of each sale made through Sculpture Court, when a 50-50 split is more typical.

Felt Threatened

"I told him I wanted R.V.S. and Sculpture Court to share mutually in the sales, but he said he would get another artist instead, whose work is like mine. I felt he was threatening me, but I didn't think in a million years John was doing pieces that were so identical you would never know who did them," she told The Star.

Her lawsuit takes umbrage at the pricing of Mr. von Schmid's works, saying the show across the street was an attempt to "devalue my entire body of work." His "First Dive" is offered at $16,000, while her works range from $30,000 to $80,000.

Ms. Feuerman said she first learned that her former assistant had become her competition when a number of her best clients told her they had received letters from him, offering works akin to hers at lower prices. Among them was Ruth Baum, who lives on Meadow Lane in Southampton.

"The whole problem with the visual arts is that an artist can change something slightly, a turn of the face, and then it's up to a judge and a jury to decide if he can get away with it or not," she said.