John Raimondi

Raimondi has sued billionaire Igor Olenicoff for art forgery. In a similar case, Olenicoff and his real estate company, Olen Properties Corp., were found guilty of copyright infringement by a federal jury in 2014 and ordered to pay $450,000 in damages to sculptor Don Wakefield, for art forgery. Raimondi had been contacted by the real estate tycoon to create versions of two of his extant sculptures as part of a percent for art mandate for property developers. Raimondi had supplied Olenicoff with detailed drawings and photographs of the proposed works, which Olenicof subsequently cancelled. In 2015, Olenicoff was ordered to pay Raimondi $650,000, according to a Benjamin Sutton article in Hyperallergic.com.

If Olenicoff had followed through with commissioning the works, Raimondi would have made $250,000 for each of the four proposed pieces. In 2010, Raimondi was informed that sculptures that originally had been submitted to the city of Brea, California as being his works were now credited to a Chinese artist. Raimondi had never authorized the creation or display of the sculptures he had discussed with Olenicoff.

John Raimondi (born May, 1948) is an American sculptor best known as a creator of monumental public sculpture, with works throughout the United States and several European countries. He lives and works in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

The first of four sons born to Erma and Peter Raimondi, John Raimondi was born in May 1948. John Raimondi spent his early years honing his skills while developing an eye for the beauty of nature that surrounded him. The young artist spent much of his time in the company of his family, though he also enjoyed the solitude of drawing and painting, as well as collecting coins and building model airplanes.