While many artists and brands would jump at the opportunity to be associated with Kim Kardashian, probably the world’s most prominent and successful influencer-entrepreneur, the late minimalist Donald Judd, whose eponymous foundation sued Kardashian on Wednesday, is not among them.
The Judd Foundation accuses Kardashian of passing off fake Judd furniture as authentic in a promotional YouTube video for her skincare brand, SKKN.
“Two minutes and 20 seconds into the video… Ms. Kardashian pointed to two tables with chairs neatly nestled beneath them and added, ‘If you guys are furniture people—because I’ve really gotten into furniture lately—these Donald Judd tables are really wonderful and perfectly blend in with the seats,'” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the furniture is not real Judd furniture but rather knockoffs created by a West Hollywood interior designer named Clements Design.
“Kardashian… utilized [the Judd trademark] trademark to give the impression that she and her SKKN BY KIM brand were connected, affiliated with, or otherwise endorsed by Mr. Judd,” according to the complaint. “Kardashian’s statement is literally false and particularly misleading,” it says, because the Judd Foundation prohibits the use of his materials in any type of commercial activity.
Judd, who died in 1994, is well-known for his frequently large, scaled minimalist sculptures. It’s understandable that his ideas would appeal to Kim Kardashian, who, with ex-husband Kanye West, erected a stark family house in Calabasas co-designed by Belgian minimalist Axel Vervoordt.
“The Kardashian Tables and Chairs slavishly imitate the trade dress of the Donald Judd La Mansana Table, the Donald Judd Chair 84, and the Donald Judd Integrated Trade Dress,” according to the complaint.
In 2022, the Judd Foundation sued the Tina Kim Gallery in New York and the Kukje Gallery in Seoul, saying that fingerprints had ruined a critically important Judd piece.
