An anti-drug trade law blocking anonymous cash purchases and requiring more federal oversight on high-worth transactions in Mexico has had a stifling effect on the country’s art galleries, preventing the anonymous purchases that are often the norm at the high end of the market.   “This has obviously affected the sales. Because there are people who are afraid, and they say, ‘I’m going to wait,’ or, ‘I don’t want to buy,’ ” says auction house director, Luis C. Lopez Morton. “They feel uncomfortable. They feel that the government is watching them.” (more…)

The country of Portugal will ultimately sell its collection of 85 Joan Miró works, after a national court overturned the ruling banning their sale.  With over $110 billion in debt, the European nation will seek to alleviate its financial burden by selling the series of works originally in the Banco Português de Negócios collection. (more…)

Manifesto 10, Installation View, all photos courtesy of Manifesto 10

Despite a steady stream of critiques, criticism and outright protest over the current political climate in Russia, Manifesta 10, one of Europe’s leading contemporary art biennials, has pressed on.  The exhibition, which opened late last month, has made much of its presence in Russia, presenting an exhibition that addresses its own political background while using it as a spring board to broader issues. (more…)

The German Task Force charged with reviewing the Gurlitt trove of looted artworks has gone on record stating that the work Two Riders on the Beach by Max Liebermann should be returned to American David Toren, whose great uncle had the work stolen from his home by Nazi troops. (more…)

In response to the efforts of Lucian Freud‘s son, Paul McAdam Freud, challenging the secrecy of the painter’s will, a High Court judge has ruled that the will’s contents are to remain undisclosed to the public and most of his 14-odd children. When he died in 2011, Freud left behind his estate equally to his solicitor and one of his daughters, with the understanding that they were to hold the estate in trusts for undisclosed recipients. The secrecy of the will has been a point of contention among his many children and beneficiaries. (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…)

The dispute surrounding Aby Rosen’s display of a Damien Hirst sculpture on the grounds of his Old Westbury, home in Long Island, has reached a resolution, with Rosen agreeing to position the statue in a place that will prevent neighbors from seeing its partially exposed skeleton.  Rosen will also employ a landscaping scheme to further shield the statue from view outside his estate.  “They were very cooperative,” says Mayor Fred J. Carillo. (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…)

A recent investigation has shown a number of cities across the U.S. failing to enforce a law requiring property developers to allocate a small percentage of cost for any construction project to fund public art, and many organizations are clamoring to enforce the laws.  “It’s really a question of making people aware that this law is on the books,” says Tom Chestnut of the Buffalo Arts Commission, who has pushed to enforce a related law in the Western New York city. (more…)

A Detroit Judge has issued a decision preventing city creditors from removing art from the walls of the Detroit Institute of Arts for valuation outside the museum.  “The record fails to justify this extraordinary relief,” stated Judge Steven Rhodes after hearing arguments.

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Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz, the suspected accomplice in the fraudulent art sales made through Knoedler Gallery, has been apprehended in Southern Spain, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Bergantino is expected to appear before a judge this week, who will decide on a potential extradition to the U.S. (more…)

Bond insurer Syncora, one of the creditors in Detroit’s bankruptcy case, has filed a massive subpoena against the Detroit Intitute of Arts, calling for a selection of documents including ownership records, documents regarding donations, and tax records, among other records.  The move is the latest in an increasingly fraught debate over whether credtiors will push DIA to sell off its works for Detroit’s debts. (more…)

The lawsuit by Daniel Loeb against Sotheby’s, filed over its attempts to prevent him from taking over 10% ownership in the company, has been fast-tracked by a Delaware judge.  “Here we have an uncommon rights plan that on its face discriminates between activist and passive investors,” says Vice Chancellor Donald Parsons, who presided over the telephone hearing. “It is sufficiently possible that the board is attempting to tilt the playing field for proxy contest in its favor and make for an unfair fight.” (more…)

The upcoming vote on an artist resale royalty in the United States has major auction houses sending high-powered lobbyists to Washington, in an attempt to prevent the bill from passing.  The bill, which would pay artists a percentage of any auction sale, has many resellers nervous over the ostensible impact the additional charges would have on growing sale prices, while advocates are pushing the bill’s inclusion of artists in the creation of new wealth.  “To me, the bill is a question of fundamental fairness,” says Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who introduced the bill. (more…)

The ongoing dispute between two members of the Cy Twombly Foundation appears to have reached a settlement, the New York Times reports.  Twombly Foundation President Nicola Del Roscio and Vice President Julie Sylvester had filed suit accusing fellow director Thomas Saliba and lawyer Ralph Lerner of valuing several Twombly works (held in their own trust) at a highly inflated $1 billion.  The settlement terms, while not all stated, involved Salbia and Lerner resigning their positions in the Foundation. (more…)

The much trumpeted auction of early works by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been put on hold by Christie’s, following a lawsuit by the artist’s surviving sisters over the authenticity of some of the works.  “Our goal is to allow time for all parties involved to reach an equivalent level of confidence in the validity of these items, so that the sale may resume at a later date,” the auction house said in a statement. (more…)

A group of artists have donated works to a benefit auction for the legal defense fees of Maximo Caminero, the Miami artist accused of breaking a vase at the exhibition of works by Ai Weiwei at the Perez Art Museum.   “We do not support the act, but we support the intention,” said painter Danilo Gonzalez. (more…)

U.S. Lawmakers have put forth a proposal that would pay 5% of any auction proceeds to the creator of the work on sale.  The royalty proposal looks to bring U.S. art auction procedures in line with those of the European Union, and would cap royalties at $35,000 for a work.  “Just as our copyright laws extend to musicians and authors to encourage their artistic creativity, they should also apply to our visual artists,” sponsoring Senator Tammy Baldwin says. “The ART Act is a common-sense measure that helps protect the intellectual property of our artists.” (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…)

A Nazi-instituted law from 1938 is complicating the situation in the return of the works discovered in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the New York Times reports.  Allowing the government to seize non-German or Jewish artworks deemed “degenerate,” the law is still on the books, and has made it more difficult for German and European museums which previously had work removed from its collection.  “The legal situation is relatively obvious and clear,” said Wolfgang Büche, of the Moritzburg Foundation in Halle. “With art taken from Jewish collectors, there are sometimes legal or at least moral circumstances under which they can seek to have their works restituted. We can only seek to buy them back.” (more…)

A recent exhibition of work featuring a portrait of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wearing women’s underwear has been shut down by state authorities in St.Petersburg this week, with the offending artist fleeing the country for asylum in France.  “We are powerless facing the despotism of authorities,” says Tatiana Titova, director of the Museum of Power, where the exhibition was held. “The museum was closed for no reason.”  (more…)

The controversial installation of a neon Playboy logo and cement sculpture by curator Neville Wakefield and Richard Phillips in Marfa, TX has been ordered to be removed.  After complaints from a local resident, the Texas Department of Transportation found that the installation was in fact corporate advertising, which requires a permit for installation. The Texas Department of Transportation has ordered the property owner to remove this sign because the owner does not have a Texas License for Outdoor Advertising and a specific permit application for the sign was not submitted,” explained Veronica Beyer, the director of media relations for the Texas DOT, in a statement. (more…)

A recent court ruling has challenged the practice of keeping auction sellers anonymous in New York State, and could fundamentally challenge how art auctions are conducted in the future, allowing buyers to avoid payment if the seller is not identified.  “As of now you can back out of any transaction where the name of the seller is not provided,” said Peter R. Stern of McLaughlin & Stern. (more…)

The New York Times describes how, as the price of art continues to increase, more art collectors seek to have the courts rule on cases of authenticity, as witnessed through the three recent cases involving Knoedler & Company; though often the arbiters decide based on their experience in contract law versus any knowledge of the arts.

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