I am interested to know what folks think about the recent release of one of the finest prints that Laurent has done to date. Really beautiful print of Breakfast at Tiffany's, that I would have owned (along with many others no doubt) but can't own it due to it's $900 price tag on a limited 250 edition release from Dominique Besson of Mondo Graphics in Paris.
There is a whole story here about why this was given such a price tag, and here is what Laurent himself says about it. This is what he said about the controversial sale on his FB page.
Dear friends,
fans and followers,
since I have not yet officially shared my thoughts about my “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” poster release and the very bad buzz this is creating. I thought it would be good for you all to know the back story of it all. I have seen many people complaining and being infuriated by the prohibitive price tag, even pointing fingers at me like if I had any responsability in how this is being handled!
As much as I understand everybody’s frustration, anger even and share their disbelief, I think it’s a shame people forgot about the actual cause this print was meant to be for. I would have preferred, like many of you suggested, to see this print being sold at a more affordable price as a timed edition by the “REAL MONDO”, giving everyone a chance to own a copy of the poster and ultimately grossing possibly more money in the kitty.
Unfortunately, as I tried to talk to Sean Hepburn Ferrer about the Mondotees option, he told me he had just signed a deal with Mondo graphics. My call came too late 🙁 …
I was not aware of this until very recently, long after I had delivered the piece. Sean had originally great plans, which had me excited about, of organizing several events in my hometown in Brussels (where his mother Audrey was born) including an exhibition, inauguration of a statue, and a charity event in which an auction would take place to sell 12 one sheet copies of my art printed in stone litho!! All of this to commemorate of the birth of Sean’s extraordinary mom here in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Unfortunately, after many months of hard work setting eveything up, and for several reasons out of Sean’s control, the whole thing was sadly cancelled.
Changing the poster release from 12 lithographs to a 250 screenprints being sold by Dominique Besson and his gallery in Paris at such a prohibitive price is something I don’t understand not just as a business plan but also for the fact that it antagonises the Mondo fan base completely. I guess he knows his business and client base better than me… Had I known this from day one, I would probably never agreed to take this path. There isn’t much I could have done at that point and, believe me, when Sean told me about his plan B, I knew this was coming…
Needless to say I wish Sean and the association EURORDIS (The voice of Rare Disease Europe)
http://www.eurordis.org whom he has been the ambassador for for the last 5 years, all the success and as much money as possible to be raised. The cause is worth it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
LD