Kelly Reemtsen sues David Salle

Kelly Reemtsen has sued painter David Salle in federal court, accusing him of copying protected elements of her work in his 2025 painting “Hatchet.” The case was filed on June 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, according to the court docket. ARTnews reported on July 8 that Reemtsen’s complaint says “Hatchet” drew from two of her works and seeks damages and other relief. The dispute follows months of scrutiny around “Hatchet,” a painting that had already been pulled from public view during Salle’s exhibition at Sprüth Magers in Los Angeles. ARTnews reported in March that the work was removed after critics pointed to similarities with Reemtsen’s imagery. ### When was the lawsuit filed, and where? (dockets.justia.com) June 22 is the filing date listed on the federal docket for *Reemtsen v. Salle*, case number 2:26-cv-06763. The docket identifies Kelly Reemtsen as plaintiff, David Salle as defendant, and the cause of action as copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501. Justia’s docket entry also shows Reemtsen demanded a jury trial and filed the complaint with exhibits. (artnews.com) The docket does not itself resolve the claims and notes that filings are not findings of fact or liability. ### What does Reemtsen say Salle copied? ARTnews reported that Reemtsen alleges “Hatchet” copied protected elements from two of her works. (dockets.justia.com) The outlet said the complaint centers on the depiction of a cropped female figure in a black-and-white dress holding a tool, imagery long associated with Reemtsen’s paintings. The earlier ARTnews report on the gallery controversy described “Hatchet” as showing a woman in a black-and-white dress, with her face cut off by the canvas edge, brandishing a sledgehammer. That article said viewers quickly noted a resemblance to Reemtsen’s 2021 painting “Impact.” ### What is Reemtsen asking the court to do? (artnews.com) ARTnews said Reemtsen is seeking damages, Salle’s profits from the allegedly infringing work, and an injunction blocking “Hatchet” from being sold or exhibited. The report also said she asked that the painting be turned over to her or destroyed. The same report said Reemtsen wants “Hatchet” removed from a gallery show in New York. (artnews.com) Lehmann Maupin’s website currently lists a New York exhibition schedule and gives the gallery’s Chelsea address, though the site pages available in search results do not identify “Hatchet” by name. ### Why had “Hatchet” already become controversial? (artnews.com) March 2026 is when the painting first drew wider attention after appearing in Salle’s exhibition “My Frankenstein” at Sprüth Magers in Los Angeles, according to ARTnews. That report said the work was removed from view after online criticism over its resemblance to Reemtsen’s imagery. (artnews.com) ARTnews described “Hatchet” as AI-assisted in its March report. The controversy therefore touched both a traditional copyright dispute over visual borrowing and a broader debate in the art world about authorship and source material in AI-involved image making. ### What happens next in the case? The next formal steps are likely to appear on the Central District of California docket, which already shows the complaint, civil cover sheet and summons-related filing from June 22. (artnews.com) David Salle’s response, if filed, would appear there. Lehmann Maupin’s New York exhibition calendar currently runs through August 14 on its website, while the federal case remains pending in California. (artnews.com) Any court order affecting display, sale or possession of “Hatchet” would come through that litigation. (lehmannmaupin.com) (dockets.justia.com)