Hyères closes art exhibition following plagiarism allegations

The city of Hyères has closed an art exhibition at the Park-Hôtel municipal gallery following allegations of plagiarism involving artist Damien Vervust. The decision follows a report from local artist Claude Printemps, who identified works by Vervust that shared nearly identical compositions, graphics, and formats with her own pieces previously exhibited in a private gallery.

Initially, the municipality removed two disputed works from the ‘RAISONance’ exhibition on Tuesday as a precautionary measure. Following further review and communication with Vervust, Mayor Véronique Bernardini announced the immediate closure of the entire exhibition on Wednesday. The city stated that no information regarding these specific works was available during the initial programming of the event.