A Brazilian artist whose paintings portray Barbie as a lesbian claims the doll’s manufacturer Mattel has threatened to sue her over the matter.

The Jornal de São Paulo newspaper reported that Karin Schwarz’s paintings of Barbie are on display in a bar in the city of Curitiba. An unidentified spokesperson for Mattel, Inc. is quoted as saying the company would initiate legal action against Schwarz for portraying Barbie as a lesbian unless she withdrew the exhibit.

“Barbie is a very proper lady, and she is not happy about being portrayed as something she isn’t,” the Mattel spokesperson is quoted as saying. “We are going to sue, and we hope that this teaches people a lesson. Also, Barbie is 46 years old, she should be respected!”

Lisa Marie Bongiovanni, vice president of corporate communications at Mattel, Inc., this week disputed the story’s accuracy and said the company has no plans to sue Schwarz over her artwork.

“Additionally, after an investigation with our Brazilian subsidiary, we have been unsuccessful in identifying the source that was widely attributed in the Brazilian media to be a Mattel spokesperson,” Bongiovanni said.

Schwarz furnishing an email copy of what she says is a legal document in Portuguese from De Vivo, Whitaker & Castro, a law firm in Brazil who Schwarz said has begun legal proceedings against her on behalf of Mattel. Schwarz insisted her claim to being sued is legitimate and said Mattel is now confusing consumers with a different story.

“They were very clear [in the legal document],” said Schwarz. “I withdraw the exhibition and remove the pictures from my website or they will sue me civil and criminally,” she said. “There is no rumor. That is a real fact. I really want the truth to win.”

The artwork that started the controversy is part of an exhibit called “Amazing Girls” by Schwarz. Some of the 31 painted images in the collection show Barbie in sexual situations with other women, including a ménage-a-trois, and some Barbie-on-Barbie poses.

Most of the images are portraits of Barbie as a flaxen-haired California girl, a raven-haired Betty Paige type and a cocoa-skinned, curly-haired natural beauty, embracing other Barbie dolls. In Schwarz’s art Barbie, an American icon and symbol of rampant consumerism, is stripped of her usual trappings so she can show her less materialistic side.

The reaction to her artwork has been mostly positive, said Schwarz, who said she will not agree to withdraw the paintings.

“If it has to be done, I will do it for sure,” she said.

Defaming Barbie?

Schwarz’s case is not the first time Mattel has gone after Barbie take-offs. Among the most memorable was a line of “anti-Barbie dolls” sold 10 years ago in San Francisco boutiques. The dolls were Barbies that were redesigned into Big Dyke Barbie, Drag Queen Barbie (Ken in a wig, gown, pumps and falsies) and Trailer Park Barbie. Mattel ordered the shops to stop selling the dolls.

A 2001 case involved photographer Tom Forsythe’s pictures of Barbie in sexually provocative poses and outfits. The court ruled in Forsythe’s favor, saying he was within his rights to use the dolls in his work.