6 Art World Spats

It's not all laughter and light in the art world. These creative types can sometimes get a little, well, het up.

1. Damien Hirst Vs David Hockney

Hockney recently told Andrew Marr that artists’ practice of using assistants to complete their work was “insulting to craftsmen”. A line on Hockney’s gallery wall reads: “All the works here were made by the artist himself, personally,” and when Marr asked Hockney if that was a dig at Damien Hirst, he [Hockney] nodded, although the Royal Academy Of Arts later said that Hockney “has not made any comments which imply criticism of another artist’s working practices”.

2. Jake Chapman Vs Carole Cadwalladr

He of art world bad boys the Chapman brothers, Jake Chapman had a spat with The Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr in 2006. A tense (and brief) interview concluded with Chapman ejecting her from his studio, telling her: “I’m sick of it. That’s the end of the conversation, I think. Get out now. Just get the f*ck out of here. What right do you have to come in here and talk to me like that? Go on, just go.”

3. Michelangelo Vs Pietro Torrigiano

Michelangelo was no stranger to a dust-up. While studying at the art academy in Florence in the early 1500s, he and rival student sculptor Pietro Torrigiano got into a tangle (probably over a chisel), resulting in Torrigiano breaking Michelangelo’s nose. Later, Michelangelo would say of Raphael “everything he knew, he learned from me”. Little did he know that they would one day both become Ninja Turtles.

4. Banksy Vs Mr Brainwash

The Bristolian verbally scuffled with Mr Brainwash (AKA Thierry Guetta) in the 2010 documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. “Warhol repeated iconic images until they became meaningless, but there was still something iconic about them. Thierry really makes them meaningless,” he said.

5. Tracey Emin Vs Philip Hensher

After critic Philip Hensher said that Emin wasn’t clever enough to be a good conceptual artist in 2003, a staggering row erupted, with each accusing the other of harassing them. “His obsession with me is pervy and creepy. He’s from weirdoland. I’m very unhappy and freaked out by all of this and I just want it to stop.” she said. “I have no intention of going near her or writing a word about her ever again,” he said.

6. Pablo Picasso Vs Henri Matisse

Picasso and Matisse had a long-standing rivalry, and it occasionally descended into childish pranks between Picasso’s ‘gang’, a group of painters and poets called La Bande à Picasso, and Matisse. In the early 1900s, it’s claimed that Picasso’s crew used a portrait of Matisse’s daughter, which he had swapped with Picasso, for target practice with toy arrows.

(Image: Rex Features)