A renowned private museum in southwestern China will end its ongoing acquisition of works by artist Ye Yongqing, who is currently mired in allegations of plagiarism.

Wang Conghui, curator of Zhi Art Museum in Chengdu, said the museum had made “a mistake” in collecting Ye’s works and demanded refunds for all payments made to the artist, according to a commentary she published with Hi Art magazine on Friday. Wang said the museum had arrived at its decision after auction house Sotheby’s Hong Kong had removed Ye’s work from an auction scheduled for April 1.

This is the first instance of a Chinese museum taking action against Ye after Belgian artist Christian Silvain accused him in February of plagiarizing his work. Ye denied the copycat claims last week. (Image: VCG)