Fate of Lincoln Park recluse Henry Darger’s famed works at center of federal court fight, half a century after their discovery in Lincoln Park

Recluse janitor Henry Darger spent more than 40 years in a tiny one-room apartment in Lincoln Park, writing, painting, sketching, collecting and fantasizing.

It wasn’t until after his death in 1973 that his works, discovered by his landlords, trickled onto Chicago’s art scene, with his fanciful stories and sometimes-violent imagery eventually gaining worldwide appreciation — and skyrocketing value.

Now, nearly a half a century later, a brewing legal battle over the rights to Darger’s legacy has landed in Chicago’s federal court, where a lawsuit was filed last week by his estate accusing the landlords of copyright infringement.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday names Kiyoko Lerner as well as the estate of her husband, Nathan, who together rented the third-floor room of their walk-up on West Webster Avenue to Darger beginning in the 1930s.

According to the suit, the Lerners have