Cardozo Art Law

Hirst not Hirst: Dealer Pleads Guilty to Forging Art Appraisal Documents

2012-02-01T10:54:00.001-05:00

On January 12, 2012, Richard Silver of Manhattan, admitted to buying online a set of prints depicting ... dots, for about $40,000. He resold them for $84,000 to other collectors in the United States, Canada, and Britain. How did he do that? Well, he had the works appraised and made a few changes to the documents. Silver did not know they were not by Damien Hirst, but he thought they were, or

The Kunstmuseum Basel and Malevich Heirs Settle

2012-02-01T01:42:00.000-05:00

In a joint press release dated January 20, 2012, the heirs of the famous Russian artist Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935), the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Government of the Canton of Basel-Stadt announced terms of a settlement agreement resolving the Heirs’ claim to works by Malevich (two gouaches “Landscape with Red Houses” and “The Washing Woman” and

Madison Avenue Art Dealer Faces Fraud Charges

2012-02-01T01:19:00.000-05:00

On January 22, 2012, Robert Scott Cook, a Madison Avenue art dealer, was charged for allegedly defrauding a client of 16 artworks by Picasso, Manet, Matisse, Renoir and others worth more than $4.2 million. Cook, a principle of Cook Fine Art (2005-2011), sold watercolors, drawings and photographs to galleries and auction houses behind the owner’s back for years. Sales took place over a

Dealer Seeks Return of Plumed Artifacts

2012-02-01T01:08:00.000-05:00

A five-year investigation into artifacts dealer Christopher Kortlander's museum resulted in a raid and allegations that he was dealing in fraudulent artifacts and feathers in violation of federal law. Authorities seized a trove of war bonnets, medicine bags and other items. Subsequently, no charges were ever filed, and most of the items seized during the raids have been returned. Most but not

Underwater Controversy: An Amendment to the Alabama Cultural Resource Act Sparks Heated Debate

2012-01-25T22:00:00.003-05:00

A proposed amendment to the Alabama Cultural Resources Act may give relic-hunters easier access to artifacts lying beneath the surface of the state’s rivers, lakes, and bays. In Montgomery, Alabama Senator Cam Ward has introduced a bill to amend the Act, currently requiring underwater explorers to obtain a permit from the Alabama Historical Commission before diving in search of underwater

Italy Returns Ancient Statue to Libya

2012-01-25T21:49:00.005-05:00

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti returned the head of a two thousand year old sculpture to Libyan authorities in Tripoli during his visit to the country this past Saturday, January 21. The piece depicts Domitilla Minor, the daughter of the Roman emperor Vespasian. It was smuggled from the northwestern city of Sabratha in the 1960s and was recently auctioned at Christie’s. This was the Italian

Authentication Committees Disband: Warhol 2011, Basquiat 2012, Who’s Next?

2012-01-24T23:45:00.001-05:00

On January 7, 2012, the Authentication Committee of the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 - 1988) ("The Committee") announced its intention to disband next September. Basquiat, an influential Neo-expressionist artist, died at the age of 27, months after the passing of Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987). The two artists collaborated on numerous paintings together. Each left an important legacy, and

Italian Trial of Robert Hecht Concludes with No Verdict

2012-01-22T19:01:00.002-05:00

The six-year trial of antiquities dealer Robert Hecht, aged 91, has ended on an anti-climactic note. Throughout a successful career beginning in the 1950s, Hecht supplied the world’s museums, collectors, and dealers with exquisite examples of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art. However, he was also continually dogged by accusations that his artifacts were of dubious origin, smuggled from their

Clooney buys the rights to Edsel's "The Monuments Men"

2012-01-18T11:04:00.001-05:00

George Clooney's new directorial project is based on Robert M Edsel's The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. It is an account of government efforts to retrieve artworks stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The Monuments Men were "a group of 345 or so men and women from thirteen nations who comprised the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives

Forgery and Fraud in the Art Market, As Usual

2012-01-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

At the end of October, ArtInfo reported that "One of the world's largest art forgery scandals" had ended in a Cologne courtroom when Wolfgant Beltracchi, leader of a forgery ring, was sentenced to six years in prison. But putting Beltracchi behind bars has not put forgery in the art world to rest. On December 1, 2011, Pierre Lagrange filed suit against an already beleaguered Knoedler Gallery

A Museum "Tax" in Boston?

2012-01-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

The Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, has announced plans for a new Payment in Lieu of Taxes scheme ("PILOT"). Under the scheme, non-profit organizations are tax-exempt but must pay certain amounts toward City services in order to retain certain privileges that come with their non-profit status. Organizations that will be affected by the revised rules include museums, universities, and even

T&E Gift: Family divided over an art loan and museum plans

2011-12-21T15:06:00.001-05:00

French-born American artist, Armand Pierre Fernandez (1928–2005), known as Arman, was an influential 20th century sculptor. His widow, Corice Arman, wishes to open a a museum in the south of France devoted to his work, what could be less contradictory than that? Well, the plans to open the museum are in jeopardy because the sculptor’s daughter and sister have objections. “It’s public

Intl Law Gift: Israeli museum refuses to return WWII spoils

2011-12-21T14:51:00.001-05:00

Dutch News reported that the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is refusing to return a Tora cover stolen by the Nazis during World War II to the Jewish community in Leiden, Netherlands. According to the report, the 17th century cover for religious scrolls has been at the centre of a dispute over ownership for years and the Leiden community now hope the Dutch government will get involved, the paper says.

Warhol Foundation Urges Protection for Appropriation Art as Experts Debate

2011-12-21T14:44:00.000-05:00

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Everybody is a Critic but Scrapping Decisions Better Made by Artists and Collectors

2011-12-06T10:00:00.001-05:00

Christopher A. Marinello, Executive Director & General Counsel at the Art Loss Register and Jerome Hasler, Student at the Courtauld Institute and Intern at The Art Loss Register have written about the rise in the value of metal prices that accelerates loss of public sculptures. Here is an excerpt: "Every morning on their way to the Notting Hill tube, many run into (sometimes literally) Nadim

Homeland Security IDs Greek Cultural Property for Import Restrictions

2011-12-06T09:47:00.002-05:00

On December 1, 2011, Federal Register published the final rule on import restrictions imposed on Certain Archaeological and Ethnological Materials from Greece. The report was approved by the commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the Department of Homeland Security and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Treasury. The Designated List of Material

UPDATED: Knoedler & Co: thanks for ALL the memories

2011-12-06T00:24:00.001-05:00

After 165 in business, Knoedler & Co gallery is now closed. The website for the gallery has the following announcement “It is with profound regret that the owners of Knoedler Gallery announce its closing, effective today. This was a business decision made after careful consideration over the course of an extended period of time. Gallery staff will assist with an orderly winding down of

Wine Steward Accused of Art Theft

2011-12-05T23:45:00.001-05:00

"The best things in life are free, but you can keep them for the birds and bees..." One Mark Lugo, a wine steward is suspected of bicoastal art-theft spree. He did take a few bottles of wine that did not belong to him also. In October, Lugo plead guilty to grand theft for the San Francisco heist of a $275,000 Picasso. Having served a 138-day sentence in California, he plead not guilty to grand

Art Fraud Case ends with a Six-Year Sentence

2011-11-29T09:17:00.000-05:00

Remember her? some $1.35 million painting, "Portrait of a Girl" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, painter of the Barbizon school in France? She was purchased by Thomas Doyle in 2010 for a reported $775,000 and became a pawn in a scheme to defraud another art investor, Gary Fitzgerald, of $880,000. Doyle had led this investor believe that he would resell the artwork for $1.7 million but instead, he

In US v. Khouli, Leave to Attend a Coin Show Sought and Granted

2011-11-29T00:25:00.000-05:00

Cultural Heritage Lawyer, Rick St. Hilaire is closely following the US v. Khouli case. He noted that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York held a status conference in the criminal matter of Khouli, an antiquities trafficking matter, on November 17, 2011. A federal grand jury in New York alleged that Khouli's antiquities trafficking ring conspired "to smuggle ancient artifacts

Libya's antiquities department recovers and displays looted Roman antiquities

2011-11-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

Arab Spring has not been too gentle to cultural heritage. Not surprising, some artifacts have been stolen in the aftermath of Libyan civil war. It has been reported by the new Libyan leaders that "Moammar Gadhafi's forces tried to flee Tripoli with a sack of ancient Roman artifacts in hopes of selling them abroad to help fund their doomed fight. These objects were recovered and are currently on

Getty on Folios from Zeytun Gospel -- To Return or Not To Return?

2011-11-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

In 1994, the J. Paul Getty Museum bought eight pages belonging to an Armenian medieval illuminated manuscript known as the Zeyt'un Gospels. Reported purchase price was just under $1 million. According to Elizabeth Morrison, the Getty's acting senior curator of manuscripts, nobody asked questions about the legitimacy of the folios' ownership until the mid 2000s, and that the level of due

What should we do with "our" antiquities?

2011-11-21T16:47:00.001-05:00

In the latest issue of the Art Newspaper, Erica Cooke asks on behalf of the museums and collectors, "What should we do with "our" antiquities?" The question is posed on the five-year anniversary of the commencement of Marion True trial in Rome. To remind the readers, True, the former antiquties curator of the Getty museum was accused of conspiracy to receive illegally excavated antiquities. The

Artifact Case Ends in Probation Order, Lesson Learned?

2011-11-21T16:24:00.000-05:00

In 2009, David A. Lacy, a school teacher, was indicted on nine counts of selling, stealing or offering to sell a number of archeological artifacts taken in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). He pleaded guilty to selling Native American artifacts and was sentenced to probation in U.S. District Court on November 18, 2011. As a condition of the

Two Hundred Years' Prequel to a Legal Battle

2011-11-08T14:23:00.000-05:00

According to a BBC report, France has laid claim to a 17th Century painting displayed by a London gallery, the Weiss Gallery, at an art fair in Paris. The painting in dispute is a Nicolas Tournier's The Carrying of the Cross which was purchased in 2010 for 400,000 euros ($550,000) at the Maastricht art fair. The French government alleges it stolen for nearly 200 years from a chapel in Toulouse,

The Hunt for the Benghazi Treasure

2011-11-06T18:44:00.002-05:00

On May 25, 2011 the "Benghazi Treasure" was looted from a bank vault in Libya. The "treasure" had been returned to Libya from Italy in 1961. Although there was documentation of the items returned, no photographs were taken. Now, this is problematic because it will be difficult to prove provenance on items such as individual coins. It is suspected that up to 500 coins and other artifacts have been

Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei is back in the news

2011-11-01T14:07:00.003-04:00

The Chinese artist, who was held at an undisclosed location earlier this year, is back in the news for tax evasion. Previously, Weiwei, an artist critical of the Chinese government, was released after 81 days of detention. In his bail agreement, he was to stay off twitter and to remain in the capital for a year. However, in August he began posting on twitter and published an article in Newsweek.

UNESCO saves US $60 million (for the arts) -- Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T22:54:00.000-04:00

Have you heard? On October 31, 2011, a day better known as Halloween, UNESCO or United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, announced its plans to admit Palestine as a member state. The vote that took place in favor of admitting Palestine triggering the US law barring funding to this UN body. As reported, "The UNESCO action triggered U.S. laws from the early 1990s that bar

Back to Russia with Love: Icons return to the Church

2011-10-27T20:09:00.009-04:00

Recently, businessman Sergei Shmakov donated more than 70 icons to the Russian Orthodox Church. The icons, that were removed from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution and World War II, took him on a search around the globe. The Russian cultural minister Alexander Avdeyev accompanied Shmakov on some of his trips. Last November, a law supported by Avdeyev passed that "called for the return of

Suit to Follow: preemptive court declaration sought for Renoir

2011-10-25T09:20:00.001-04:00

The title to Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Paysage de Cagnes" is now being challenged after hanging on the wall of a home in Lake Forest, Illinois for over 50 years. The Korhumels proudly displayed their painting after purchasing it from the Hammer Galleries in New York in 1956. The executor of the couple's estate began talks with Christie's at the beginning of this year about the possibility of

Will the Real Andy Warhol Please Stand Up: the Authentication Board to shut down

2011-10-24T00:36:00.001-04:00

The Andy Warhol Foundation has announced that the Art Authentication Board will shut down in early 2012. The announcement comes about a year after the lawsuit, brought against the Foundation by collector Joe Simon-Whelan, had finally ended. Although the Foundation was successful in its defense, its practices have come under intense criticism. Further, the Foundation spent over $7 million

Legal Lense on Culinary Business

2011-10-23T23:11:00.001-04:00

Ewa-Marie Rundquis, Stockholm-based photographer, sued German-owned Vapiano SE and its U.S. subsidiaries, Vapiano International and Vapiano Franchise USA, alleging that her copyright-protected works were reproduced without her permission and used as decorations in franchised restaurants throughout the United States and around the world. According to the Courthouse News Service,

Resale Royalties: from CA to NY

2011-10-23T21:51:00.004-04:00

Many works of visual art are so unique that exact reproduction is nearly impossible, which sets them apart from other copyrightable works. For example, literary works can be photocopied, and musical works can be uploaded and downloaded. Whereas a writer sells a literary work for an initial print run, a visual artist sells only one physical copy. Once that physical copy is gone, an artist can

Branded not Motherwell

2011-10-20T22:32:00.002-04:00

Do art historians know how many "Spanish Elegies" Motherwell produced? While the well is not running dry yet, one of the paintings attributed to the great American artist is now truly worthless. The New York Times reported that a forged Robert Motherwell painting was branded with the equivalent of a scarlet letter in a legal settlement involving three art galleries and the Dedalus Foundation,

Art Theft – A Sexy Crime?

2011-10-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

There is no denying that art theft is steadily on the rise, now worth over $6 billion annually worldwide. Montreal, Quebec, now too is known for being a hotbed of art crime, alone worth $20 million annually and a portal for art thieves to transfer loot to major art markets around the world, particularly New York. While Toronto is the locale for the country’s art market, Quebec is the only city

The Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation Announces the Winners of its Annual Student Writing Competition

2011-10-18T14:57:00.011-04:00