A sculpture by Louise Bourgeois at the centre of an international dispute

A disputed work, a tree, the heirs of a globally famous artist, a small municipality in the province of Varese. These are the elements of an international dispute, relaunched by the local press, pitting the Origgio administration against the heirs of French artist Louise Bourgeois. At the centre of the "singolar tenzone", the sculpture "The Couple", a voluptuous and light embrace of two lovers suspended in a vortex of passion that seems to project them towards a goal of infinity, exhibited in the Villa Borletti Park, dialogues at a distance with the works of Giovanni Rizzoli and Tristano Di Robilant.

"The work was donated in the 2000s thanks to the good offices of the sculptor Giovanni Rizzoli, who was in contact with the artist, and was realised according to the curators' requests," explains the mayor of Origgio, Evasio Regnicoli. However, 'we do not have a technical report that reassures us about placing it hanging from a tree. The lawyers question the positioning,' the mayor continues, 'and ask that the 600 kg work be hung on a branch; the administration, on the other hand, asks for technical reassurances that we do not have at the moment, also because it should be suspended six metres high. Now the branches of a tree hide it and the sculpture seems to hang from the tree, even though it is not'.

'I believe instead,' the mayor speculates, 'that the curators would like to take the work back in view of its value, but in the face of the efforts made by the municipality - which took care of the fusion, a monograph, etc. - we object and that is why we are in litigation. In my opinion, the aim would still be to take it back...'.

For the heirs' lawyers, the terms of the donation, which stipulated that the work was to be hung on a tree, were not respected. "At this stage, it is superfluous to speak of the right of ownership of the work, a matter submitted to the Court. Rather, it is relevant that the work is displayed in a manner contrary to the artist's wishes. The Municipality is well aware of this and has explicitly admitted it. It goes without saying that the manner in which the work is exhibited is an integral part of the work and, as such, protected by the rules and it is the absolute duty of the Municipality of Origgio to comply with them'.

And again, for the defenders of the heirs, it is 'the duty of the municipal administration to carry out ordinary maintenance work (e.g. cleaning of excrement) on the work, the current state of which is absolutely in contempt of the artistic value of the work by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century'.