Artist Suit Against Los Angeles for Destroying Art Moves Forward

An artist can advance his lawsuit alleging Los Angeles and the Chinese American Museum destroyed his art work without consulting him, a federal California court ruled.

The city and museum, which receives city funds, failed to establish that dozens of canvas bags painted by David Lew, known as Shark Toof, fell under an exception for “applied art” in the Visual Artists Rights Act, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said.

VARA bars destroying qualifying art without notifying the artists, but doesn’t apply to utilitarian objects.

The VARA claims hinge on the interpretation of that “applied art” ...