British artist Rob Munday has filed a lawsuit against Chris Levine, claiming he is the co-creator of two of the most recognizable portraits of Queen Elizabeth II—Equanimity and Lightness of Being—which Levine has for years presented as solely his own work.
The dispute, filed in the High Court, centers on the 2004 holographic portraits commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust. Munday alleges Levine and his company, Sphere 9, violated his moral rights by failing to credit him as a co-author. The works, both held in London’s National Portrait Gallery, were created using holography technology that renders three-dimensional images through light projection and multiple cameras.
According to court documents reviewed by the Guardian, Munday claims that Levine relied on his technical and artistic expertise to realize the portraits. “I’ve been going through this cycle for 20 years,” Munday, who began working in holography in the early 1980s, told the Guardian. “It felt like this had to be fought now or never.”
Levine, who shares copyright in the works, has not yet filed a defense. In a statement, he rejected Munday’s claims, describing him as “a technical subcontractor” rather than an artistic partner. “Mr. Munday does not hold any copyright in Equanimity or Lightness of Being,” Levine said. “Any claim on my rights will be fiercely defended. This is my art.”
The portraits were commissioned to mark 800 years since Jersey’s pledge of allegiance to the English crown. Munday says the two men reached a 2005 agreement recognizing joint authorship, which Levine later breached.
The lawsuit follows another dispute last year between Levine and the Jersey Heritage Trust, which accused him of selling unlicensed copies of the portraits potentially worth millions. That case was settled in September with a joint statement crediting Levine as “the sole artist commissioned” and naming Munday as a collaborator.
Munday said he was prompted to sue after Levine posted, then deleted, an Instagram message following the settlement: “Truth prevailed. I was the sole artist commissioned and am now legally recognized as the sole author of the work.”
Levine, who studied at Chelsea School of Art and Central Saint Martins, rose to fame with Lightness of Being, depicting the Queen with her eyes closed—an image that became emblematic of her reign’s serenity and restraint. The portrait has been exhibited widely, including at Sotheby’s in a 2022 show called “Power & Image: Royal Portraiture & Iconography.”
The case is ongoing.
