Following the absolution of former Knoedler & Co president Ann Freedman in the ongoing criminal investigation over the sale of over 60 forged artworks, the former Knoedler head is suing dealer Marco Grassi for defamation.  Freedman, in her lawsuit, cites over 20 sources claiming she performed due diligence on the origins of the work, and that Grassi overstepped his grounds in recent comments to the New Yorker.  “A gallery person has an absolute responsibility to do due diligence, and I don’t think she did it. The story of the paintings is so totally kooky. I mean, really. It was a great story and she just said, ‘this is great.'”  Grassi said in the aforementioned interview.  (more…)

New York Magazine has published an exclusive interview with Ann Freedman, the president of the now shuttered Knoedler and Company, who has been exonerated of any criminal involvement in the fraudulent sale of 63 forged artworks through the gallery.  “The story was credible,” she says, speaking on Glafira Rosales’s mysterious seller, “Mr. X,” a fabrication she used to justify the sudden appearance of the works. “Dealers often do not know the specifics of origin or background, or how the art left the artist’s studio. You cannot turn the pages of an auction catalogue or museum publication without seeing a majority of the works labeled ‘private collection.’ The chain of ownership is often out of order and incomplete.” (more…)