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Guests at tonight's opening of the Dale Chihuly exhibit at Lowe Gallery will be seeing more than art in the nature-inspired glass sculptures that have made Chihuly rich and famous.

Considering the legal squabble between him and a competitor over alleged copying of his signature forms, visitors may be getting a preview of Exhibit A.

(ENLARGE)
Is the difference clear? Above is Robert Kaindl's "Small Yellow Anthias with an Extended Yellow Lip Wrap." Below is Dale Chihuly's "Sulphur Yellow Basket Set with Dark Oxblood Lip Wrap," in a 55-piece Chihuly exhibit opening July 14 at Lowe Gallery.
(ENLARGE)
(ENLARGE)
Glass artist Robert Kaindl (above) denies his work mimics that of Dale Chihuly (below), who dominates the world of glass sculpture. Chihuly's lawsuit has implications for the art industry worldwide.
NICK ARROYO / Staff (ENLARGE)
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In a suit and countersuit filed in Washington state, the foes are raising intriguing questions about what makes any artist's work unique, what qualifies as inspiration and what defines a mere knock-off.

Filed late last year, Chihuly's $1 million copyright and trademark infringement suit alleges that Bryan Rubino, formerly a glass-blower for Chihuly, and glass sculptor Robert Kaindl have mimicked his signature forms — nested baskets, tendrils and ruffly shapes reminiscent of marine life — right down to their exotic titles.

Kaindl fired back in May, alleging in a counter-claim that Chihuly is not involved in conceiving or designing a substantial number of his works. Furthermore, he asserts that the sources of Chihuly's inspiration —plants, sea life, Navajo Indian blankets — are available to all, and that techniques Chihuly claims as his own actually go back centuries.

The conflict isn't scheduled to go to trial until April, but it promises a provocative look at the issues of artistic authorship and influence, and whether an artist can truly "own" what he perceives as his unique vocabulary.

The authorship waters are muddy. Glass-blowing is, like film-making, a collaborative art — especially so for Chihuly. Sidelined by injuries, he hasn't actually blown glass himself since the early 1980s. He runs a huge operation and is not involved in every piece his gaffers (glass-blowers) make.

Furthermore, artists have been learning — and stealing — from colleagues and predecessors from time immemorial. This is an accepted practice, assuming artists transmute the information into something of their own. They openly acknowledge their sources, and art historians make a parlor game of determining who influenced whom. The philosophical and now legal issue is, where does one draw the line between an object done "in the manner of" and a knock-off?

As a gaffer, Rubino would have absorbed and executed Chihuly's vocabulary. He alleges, however, that he came up with designs as well, though by agreement they went out under Chihuly's signature. Kaindl, a hobbyist who turned professional in 2000, says that he employed Rubino, as did Chihuly, because the gaffer is "a superb technician" and that Rubino executed his designs.

Kaindl asserts that Chihuly's work is not a source for his own. "Nature is my influence," he says.

Artistic integrity is not the only issue. The popular Chihuly, whose 2004 exhibit in the Atlanta Botanical Garden drew record crowds, commands hefty prices for his sculptures. Buyers can expect to spend $4,000 to $7,000 for limited-edition multiples, and from $24,000 to several hundred-thousand dollars for the one-of-a-kind pieces now showing at Lowe.

Dealer Bill Lowe says his first Chihuly show in 2002 made $2 million in six weeks, and since then, the South has become the glass artist's biggest market.

Chihuly, he says, is trying to protect the vocabulary he has developed during his 40-year career.

"It's his language," says Lowe, who bills his 55-piece exhibit as Chihuly's largest ever in a commercial gallery. "The forms in nature are accessible, but the way he translated and articulated them is his."

Kaindl is trying to protect his livelihood, too. The sculptor sees himself as David to Chihuly's Goliath.

"When a big company is threatened, they bury the little guy with legal fees," says Kaindl, who expects the suit to cost him $1.6 million. He says the suit already has cost him a lot of business, including a cancelled deal with Costco stores to produce a special line of sea shapes for $550 a pop.

"The plaintiff is trying to obtain a monopoly on blown-glass art," says Kaindl's lawyer, Timothy Boller of Seed Intellectual Property Law Group in Seattle.

The law, he says, is clear on that point. "You can't claim a style," says Boller. "The [object in question] has to be virtually identical before there's any infringement."

Chihuly's lawyer, Susan Foster of the Seattle firm Perkins Coie, referred questions on the suits to Chihuly's staff, none of whom could be reached by Thursday evening.

Even a quick glance at images of Chihuly's work and the sculptures pictured on Kaindl's Web site (www.robertkaindl.com) makes their similarities clear, but fulfilling the letter of the law is no piece of cake.

"Proving a copyright infringement can be one of the most difficult cases in the law," says Joe Beck, a copyright lawyer with Atlanta firm Kilpatrick Stockton.

Chihuly may have a better chance under trademark law. According to trademark specialist Miles Alexander, also of Kilpatrick Stockton, trademark and unfair competition law may prohibit the sale of products similar enough to confuse the public. Trademark law may also penalize products that dilute the value of "a famous mark" by making it less distinctive, Alexander says.

Both parties see the case as a line drawn in the sand with larger implications.

Says Kaindl, "This lawsuit is not only a fight for myself, it's a fight for the entire creative community of artists and art as an industry worldwide."

Chihuly, who could not be reached, might have said the same thing.