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The New York art world was shocked when the city’s oldest gallery abruptly closed its doors more than four years ago. A few days later, news broke that Knoedler & Company was accused of selling paintings it now admits were forgeries for millions of dollars each. The gallery and its former president face several lawsuits by angry collectors and the first trial began this week.

The forgeries at the center of the scandal look like masterpieces by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and other prominent abstract expressionists. They were good enough to fool experts, and even Ann Freedman, then-president of Knoedler & Company, says she was duped.

Her lawyer, Luke Nikas, says, “Ann Freedman believed in these paintings. She showed them to the whole art world. She showed them to experts. And she has piles and piles of letters from all of these experts informing her that the works are real.”

Nikas says Freedman even bought some of the paintings for her own personal collection. But the plaintiffs in this case and other pending lawsuits say Freedman overlooked glaring problems with the paintings’ backstories. The art dealer who sold the paintings to the gallery, a woman named Glafira Rosales, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in 2013. According to Freedman, Rosales told an elaborate story involving a European collector (known only as “Mr. X”) who bought the paintings with cash in the 1950s, when he was having an affair with an assistant at two top New York galleries.

“It’s quite a tale, and people bought it,” says Amy Adler, who teaches art law at New York University. “I suppose the temptation would be there — not just for buyers, but, yes, even for sellers — to think they’d happened upon these magnificent, undisclosed masterpieces.”

In the end, Rosales admitted to selling Knoedler 40 counterfeit paintings over more than a decade. The plaintiffs argue that Freedman knew — or at least should have known — that something was amiss. It’s hardly the first time an art dealer has been accused of deliberately looking the other way.

Ken Perenyi is a professional art forger who wrote about his career in the book Caveat Emptor. “From over 30 years’ experience with art dealers,” he says, “I would say there most certainly are individuals out there in the trade that will turn a blind eye.” . . .

Tags: Art, Art Gallery, Art Law, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Law, Fakes, Law, legal, problems

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Categories Art, Cultural Heritage (Art), History, Life

Getty Museum returns the Head of Hades to Italy

29 Jan

Sometime between 300-400B.C., an unknown artist in Morgantina, Italy carefully sculpted this terra-cotta replica of the famed god of the Underworld, the feared Hades. The skull or head itself was carefully sculpted on its own, and later the curly hair and beard were individually added, one curl at a time, just before the final firing in the kiln. Afterwards, it was carefully painted, and some parts of the paint remain such as the red in his hair and the blue in his beard. This beautiful artifact is an amazingly well-preserved momento of painstaking artistry.

The piece goes by both the name “Head of Hades” and “Bluebeard” and was illegally excavated from an Italian archaeological dig during the 1970s. Afterwards it was sold and ended up at the Getty Museum in the USA.

According to the Getty Website, the work was initially believed to be a depiction of Hades’ brother, Zeus (known occasionally as Bluebeard). However, examination of the nearby discovered artifacts and the knowledge that Morgantina worshipped Persephone (kidnapped wife of Hades), they now believe it is actually Hades instead. The kidnapping of Persephone is thought to have occurred at a lake near the city.

Long story short, because the work was illegally excavated, it technically still belongs to Italy and was stolen property, meaning the Getty had to repatriate the bust to its nation of origin. Although the legal exchange happened a couple years ago, the official trade occurred recently when Italian officials arrived to take over possession.

One of the interesting notes to me is the fact that the Getty has owned this work since 1985 (almost 20 years) according to their own website. It is unclear why it took so long for them to return the stolen relic.

Either way, the work is finally home as Hades returns to his royal lands, protecting the good and punishing the wicked as they pass into his deadly realm.

Resources:

Tags: Art Law, Cultural Heritage Law, CulturedMuse, Hades, Italy, Repatriation, Terra Cotta

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Categories Art, Europe, History, Life, The Law

Copyright: The Constitutional Background

14 Jul

***This is not intended to be legal advice. First, this is an ESL Primer, and so is fairly simplified. Second, each person’s situation is different. Please contact your attorney for legal advice as it applies to you!!

Copyright:

The Constitutional Background

by Profs. Olivia L. Blessing, JD and Angela K. Blessing, MBA, JD

via “Cultured Muse“

Introduction

When asked to think back to the American Constitution, many Americas recall dusty memories of political office age restrictions and voting laws. Yet, the founding fathers were not only devoted to taxes and wars; they were interested in cultural and scientific issues as well.

In fact, they considered art and inventions so important to American culture and development as to warrant Constitutional protection. In America, the Constitution is the highest law in the country, it trumps everything. If it is in the Constitution, it is extremely important to the Government. And Copyright protection is one of those extra important issues the Government is involved in.

So what exactly does the Constitution say? As we saw before, Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says Congress has the power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

Cool! Now, what does that mean? Continue reading →

Tags: Art, Art Law, Copyright, Cultural Heritage Law, Culture, Law

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Categories Art, The Law

Greece Outraged by British Museum Sculpture Loan

10 Dec

Learn more about the Elgin Marble’s background in my article here. . . **DB

“Greece Outraged by British Museum Sculpture Loan”

by Danika Kirka via “Yahoo News“

LONDON (AP) — One of the British Museum’s much-disputed Parthenon Marbles was unveiled Friday after being sent in secret to Russia — a surprise move that outraged Greece, which has long demanded the return of the artifacts.

The loan of the piece, an elegant depiction of the Greek river god Ilissos, was the first time in two centuries that any of the contested sculptures has left Britain — and raised questions of timing amid growing tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine and other disputes.

Greece reacted with fury.

“Greeks identify with our history and culture! Which cannot be sliced up, loaned or given away!” Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras fumed in a sharply worded statement punctuated with exclamation points. He described the British Museum’s move as a provocation.

The museum announced the loan only after the sculpture — a headless Ilissos reclining amid exquisitely carved drapery evoking river water — had been spirited to Russia’s Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. It will be on display Saturday through Jan. 18 as part of a major exhibition to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the museum, Russia’s most renowned.

The sculptures are at the heart of one of the world’s most famous cultural heritage disputes. The marbles graced the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis for more than 2,000 years, until they were removed at the beginning of the 19th century by Scottish nobleman Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, when it was fashionable for the aristocracy to collect ancient art.

Greece contends they were looted illegally while the country was under Turkish occupation. The British Museum has long rejected their return, arguing that the pieces, sometimes known as the Elgin Marbles, can be seen in London by a global audience, free of charge.

In announcing the loan, the museum’s trustees described the sculpture as a “stone ambassador of the Greek golden age,” whose loan should continue despite the tensions between Britain and Russia.

“It is precisely because relations between the countries are difficult that this kind of loan is so important,” British Museum director Neil MacGregor told the BBC. “As we know, relations between Britain and Russia have been bumpy over the last couple of years. But the Hermitage has lent very generously.”

MacGregor added that he hoped the Greek government would be “delighted.”

“I hope that they’ll be very pleased that a huge new public can engage with the great achievements of ancient Greece. People who will never be able to come to Athens or to London will now here in Russia understand something of the great achievements of Greek civilization.”

The trip to the Hermitage marks the first time any of the sculptures have left the museum since being presented to its trustees by Parliament in 1816, with the exception of their evacuation for safekeeping in wartime. . . .”