Local Artist Sues Over Removal Of Venice Beach Street Mural

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A local artist says the owner of a Venice building violated federal law by destroying a mural that served as the backdrop for a 1969 photo of The Doors.

Victor Henderson claims he helped to create the "Brooks Avenue Painting" on the building at Brooks and Pacific avenues in 1969, and was not consulted when South African artist Ralph Ziman allegedly hired a contractor to sandblast the artwork off its facade last August.

Henderson alleges the removal of the work was "willful, intentional and grossly negligent", and was a violation of federal copyright law, according to City News Service.

Legal documents filed Monday in L.A. federal court claim the mural "was a piece of realism done with an accurate perspective, depicting a street scene in Venice."

"Los Angeles lost a key piece of mural history," the filings read.

Henderson, co-founder of the L.A. Fine Arts Squad, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

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