An arrest warrant for Artist Shepard Fairey has been issued in the city of Detroit, alleging that the artist has caused over $9,000 in damages from various tags and murals he left in the city.  Fairey’s public recognition “does not take away the fact that he is also a vandal,” says Police Sgt. Rebecca McKay. (more…)

A Los Angeles Judge has rejected a lawsuit against the nation of Spain and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid to return a Camille Pissarro taken from the Cassirer family through forced sale by Nazis in 1939.  The painting, Rue Saint-Honoré, Après-midi, Effet de Pluie, was subject to Spanish law, Judge John F. Walter ruled, and therefore could not be removed by his decision.  The family plans to appeal.  “Museums and governments around the world recognize the need to return Nazi-looted art to its rightful owners,” said Laura Brill, a lawyer for the Cassirer family. “Here, it is undisputed that the Pissarro was owned by the Cassirer family until it was stolen by the Nazis in 1939.” (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…)

A recent 13D filing from Mark McGwire’s Marcato Capital in the past week states that the hedge fund now holds stocks in three Sotheby’s funds amounting to about 9.5%, equivalent to Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, and requests that the company release previously withheld information around the company’s recent dealings.  “The redacted material goes to the very heart of the parties’ dispute in this litigation – the conduct and competence of Sotheby’s board of directors in adopting a poison pill,” Marcato states in its filing. (more…)

A group of heirs to a Jewish art dealer have sued the German government over a collection of Renaissance-era artworks valued at $226 million.  The works were reportedly sold under duress during the Nazi rise to power, although hard details about the sale are somewhat murky.   “Any transaction in 1935, where the sellers on the one side were Jews and the buyer on the other side was the Nazi state itself is by definition a void transaction,” says Nicholas O’Donnell, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case. (more…)

Despite improved relations between the United States and Cuba, the Art Newspaper notes that the island’s government still refuses to return art seized by the government from exiles during the 1960’s.  “In most of the articles you read about missing art in Cuba, the question is—where is the piece? That’s not my issue. I know where it is, I just can’t get to it. There’s no method of my claimed ownership being adjudicated,” says Javier Garcia-Bengochea, who claims Francesco Guardi’s View of the Lagoon between the Fondamenta Nuove and Murano was seized from a family member’s home.  The painting now sits in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, with no success in getting the Cuban government to return it. (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 Texas Department of Transportation has reached a decision to classify the Prada Marfa installation by Elmgreen and Dragset as a museum, thus saving it from a possible removal.  “TxDOT appreciates and values the cultural significance of Prada Marfa, and we are happy to have found a win-win solution that keeps it in its current location,” said department deputy executive John Barton. (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 case for artist resale royalties in the United States is gaining strength in Congress, as the bill proposing the measure has earned six co-signers in the past weeks.  “We’re optimistic—the pace over the past month seems to have picked up,” says Ted Feder, the president of the Artists Rights Society.  (more…)

Pu Zhiqiang, the lawyer representing Ai Weiwei in his case to reclaim his visa from the Chinese has been arrested and detained by the government, after attending a meeting commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.  “The current suppression of rights lawyers is worse than in the 2011 ‘Jasmine’ period” says friend and colleague Teng Biao. (more…)

Francesco Vezzoli’s planned installation of an Italian church in the courtyard of MoMA PS1 in New York has been cancelled after Italian authorities intervened to block the artist’s export of the ruins.  Vezzoli is now under criminal investigation for the deconstruction of the church, despite the prior blessing of the Mayor of Montegiordano, where the church was located.  Vezzoli is searching for a new way to show his work at MoMA, but has yet to fully commit to a new plan.  “It’s like love — if this church turns you down, you can’t fall in love again right away,” he said. “My Juliet is being kept captive.” (more…)

The New York State Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the controversial case over the museum’s “Pay What You Want” pricing scheme, dismissing a substantial part of the case.  Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich ruled on the decision, stating that the museum’s income is used to help fund education programs and other efforts.  “For those without means, or those who do not wish to express their gratitude financially, a de minimis contribution of a penny is accepted,” the judge wrote. “Admission to the Met is de facto free for all.”  Even with that ruling, the court will review the portion of the case stating that the museum misrepresents itself, leading visitors to believe that they must pay the full $25 price on museum signage. (more…)

Over the past two years, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist has sought to bring a controversial piece by artist John Baldessari to realization, which would require exhibiting a human cadaver in a gallery space, viewed through a small peep-hole.  The work has been attempted several times, but has faced staunch legal opposition and considerations over the will of deceased body being included in the final product.  Says Obrist: “It’s not excluded that one day it will happen. You need the consent of the person obviously before they die. At the same time you need the consent of the family as well as legal authorization.” (more…)