In response to a court order compelling Danh Vo to create an “impressive” installation for collector Bert Kreuk, the artist has issued a letter to the collector telling him in no uncertain terms to “shove it.” “This whole case is so bizarre it is unbelievable,” Kreuk has responded. (more…)
A muralist and designer is suing Starbucks, following the coffee company’s allegedly unlicensed use of her signature style. Painter Maya Hayuk was approached by the corporation late last year, and declined an offer to work with them on a campaign, but sued when Starbucks rolled out new branding that seemed strikingly similar to her own work. “Starbucks brazenly created artwork that is substantially similar to one or more of Hayuk’s copyrighted works,” the lawsuit claims. (more…)
Artist Cady Noland has repudiated another one of her past works this month, sabotaging a $1.4 million sale for Log Cabin Blank with Screw Eyes and Cafe Door, a work which she denounced after learning of the new owner’s plans to restore the piece’s rotted wood. “Noland angrily denounced the restoration of the artwork without her knowledge and approval,” a complaint collector Scott Mueller filed in New York Federal Court this Monday. “She further stated that any effort to display or sell the sculpture must include notice that the piece was remade without the artist’s consent, that it now consists of unoriginal materials, and that she does not approve of the work.” (more…)
The Art Loss Register, widely considered the authoritative body on looted and missing artworks, is currently involved in a trio of cases involving disputes on works’ provenance claimed by the register to be authentic which were actually contested. “It’s incredibly frustrating because it doesn’t matter what you do,” says one anonymous figure affected by the cases. “You do everything you can to check a painting is clean, and it’s useless. How can you protect yourself? You can’t.” (more…)
Some of the paintings allegedly stolen from Picasso’s stepdaughter, Catherine Hutin-Blay, were found in the collection of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who purchased them through art broker and adviser, Yves Bouvier (currently under investigation for fraud). Bouvier’s lawyer denies any knowledge of the works’ stolen status. “For all the paintings he acquired, he asked for a certificate from the Art Loss Register, demonstrating that it has not been registered as missing or stolen,” says Bouvier’s attorney, Luc Brossollet. (more…)
The court case over the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice has begun, a lawsuit by the collector’s grandson to prevent the Guggenheim Foundation from showing any works not in the collection within the museum space, “alleging it breaks with the original arrangement that Peggy wanted and which should be respected after her death,” according to plaintiff Sandro Rumney. (more…)
Former Walt Disney President Michael Ovitz has filed a $2.5 Million bad faith breach of contract lawsuit against insurance company American International Group (AIG) and Chartis Property Casualty Co. for allegedly failing to reimburse Ovitz for a lost Richard Prince work. “While Defendants ultimately acknowledged coverage and full insurance benefits for another loss under almost identical circumstances, Defendants steadfastly, unreasonably, and without probable cause, refused to provide coverage for the loss at issue herein,” and thus represented bad faith, the suit says. (more…)
The lawsuit between Sotheby’s and collector Lancelot William Thwaytes has been decided in favor of the auction house. Sotheby’s sold a work for Thwaytes, attributed to a follower of Caravaggio, for £42,000 in 2006, only to have the work authenticated as a true Caravaggio weeks later. Mrs Justice Rose ruled there had been no negligence in the case, stating that Sotheby’s is “entitled to rely on the connoisseurship and expertise of their specialists.” (more…)
Amid charges of plagiarism, Jeff Koons’s work Fait d’Hiver has been pulled from exhibition at the artist’s expansive Centre Pompidou retrospective. The work’s owner made the request for its removal, while the museum made a point of expressing its desire to leave the work in the show. “It is essential that museums be able to continue to give an account of these artistic endeavors,” said president Alain Seban. (more…)
A Manhattan court has decided the lawsuit between Larry Gagosian and Ronald Perelman in favor of Gagosian, ruling that Perelman’s lawsuit “does not establish that [Gagosian] exercised control and dominance over [Perelman], who by [his] own description, frequently purchased, sold and exchanged works of art as investments.” (more…)
The New York Post reports on a recent suit filed against former Andy Warhol bodyguard Agusto Bugarin, accusing him of stealing of painting from the artist, and hiding it away for 30 years before trying to sell it in the past year. “There is no indication that Warhol did or would have given his bodyguard a painting valued at the time in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — several multiples of Bugarin’s annual salary,” the Manhattan Supreme Court filing by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts says. (more…)
The New York Times takes an in-depth look at the ongoing court battle between Ronald Perelman and Larry Gagosian, noting the immense legal fees that the collector has racked up (over $3 million) in his ongoing battle over the sale of a Cy Twombly work he claims was fraudulently overpriced, and Gagosian’s subsequent lawsuits over his failure to pay. “Ron Perelman’s disingenuous claims that he is a crusader are nothing more than a cover for the fact that he is a notorious bully with a well-known history of filing meritless litigations who once again won’t pay what’s owed,” says Gagosian’s lawyer, Matthew S. Dontzin. (more…)
Lehmann Maupin New York has filed a $10 million Wrongful Eviction lawsuit against its Chelsea landlord, 293 Tenth Ave. Corp., run by Michael Silvermintz. The suit claims that Silvermintz’s firm sent an eviction notice late last year, but failed to produce the demolition permit required by the lease. Since then, the gallery claims that the landlord has “engaged in a systematic pattern of conduct that unreasonably interferes with and obstructs plaintiff’s use and occupancy of the subject premises.” (more…)
The Detroit Bankruptcy hearings begin this week, and while some alarmists wring their hands over the fate of the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection, the Art Market Monitor notes a series of indications that the museum collection will likely not find itself on the auction block. Citing a New York Times article, the site notes the “scorched earth” approach taken by debt holders Syncora, and the chances that it may only alienate the courts in attempts to collect whatever it can on the final rulings. (more…)
The lawsuit between Ronald Perelman and Larry Gagosian is still underway, with Perelman launching a subpoena demanding information on Gagosian’s previous deals with Columbian collector José Mugrabi. Perelman maintains that the work in question, a Cy Twombly allegedly sold to Mugrabi before Perelman bought it for $10.5 million, was part of a scheme to manipulate the price, while Gagosian is also charging that he lost money on the deal. (more…)
Following a Florida court’s $24.6 million decision in favor of several Rauschenberg Trustees for services preserving the artist’s legacy, the Rauschenberg Foundation has filed an appeal, claiming that the sum originally awarded to the three trustees would hamper its charitable work for the arts community. (more…)
The court case over payment to three trustees of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust has been settled this week by a Florida judge, who approved a payment of $24.6 million for “extraordinary services” in preserving the artist’s legacy, much to the disappointment of Rauschenberg’s estate, which is considering its options in the face of the ruling. “We are reviewing our legal options and will pursue the course of action that is in the best interest of the foundation,” says Christopher Rauschenberg, the artist’s son and president of the foundation. (more…)
Former Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have announced that they will be suing the Russian government on the grounds that their prosecution violated international standards for civil rights. The lawsuit will look for €120,000 each in compensation, as well as €10,000 to cover court fees. (more…)
Judge Robert D. Okun of the District of Columbia Superior Court has allowed the lawsuit filed by a group of students and faculty against the Corcoran Gallery to move forward, a move which may delay the absorption of the institution by George Washington University and the National Gallery of Art. “Today’s decision is a meaningful step for transparency and inclusiveness ”says lawyer Andrew S. Tulumello. (more…)
A lawsuit seeking to block the takeover of the Corcoran Gallery of Art has been filed in D.C., brought forth by a group of museum donors, students, and faculty, saying the takeover would go against the institution’s 1869 deed. The suit also complains that the institution suffered from “self-dealing, conflicts of interest, hiring unqualified management and profligate spending on consultants whose advice was ultimately ignored.” (more…)
The court case between relatives of Peggy Guggenheim and the Guggenheim Foundation has been decided in favor of the museum. The ruling was issued in a Paris courtroom this week, giving the museum free reign to show art as it deems fitting at the collector’s Venice palazzo. “The Foundation is proud to have faithfully carried out the wishes of Peggy Guggenheim for more than thirty years by preserving her collection intact in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, restoring and maintaining the Palazzo as a public museum and contributing to the knowledge of modern and contemporary art in Italy,” the Guggenheim said in a statement. (more…)
The New York Times has penned a new report on the ongoing disputes between MoCANoMI and the City of North Miami, with disagreements running all the way up to who is currently the director of the museum. With both sides filing lawsuits over alleged injustices, and a potential move to Miami Beach being threatened by MoCANoMi, both sides are claiming control over the museum and its collection. “It is as if a child is born and in turn says it is the mother of its mother,” says Babacar M’Bow, the man appointed as director by the city but disputed by the museum board. (more…)
The Eli Broad Museum, is suing German architectural fabricator Seele over the still-unfinished steel facade of the museum, which has allegedly delayed the opening of the museum until 2015. The $19.8 million lawsuit “speaks for itself,” says Broad Foundation spokesperson Karen Denne. “We are fairly confident that the museum will open in 2015, and we will announce an opening date later this year.” (more…)
