A federal judge has decided in favor of sculptor Robert Indiana in a case that claimed the artist had renounced work he had previously authenticated.  Dealer Joao Tovar, who brought the suit, had purchased a series of works attributed to Indiana, and was about to sell them at auction when the artist stepped in to renounce the works as his.  The court ruled that the works were in fact created by Indiana’s longtime associate, John Gilbert. (more…)

Larry Gagosian responded yesterday to a lawsuit by client Ronald O Perelman over money lost in the exchange of 11 works valued at over $45 million, including an unfinished Jeff Koons sculpture, a Cy Twombly painting, and a sculpture by Richard Serra. In a series of papers filed this week in New York State Supreme Court, Gagosian claims that he had lost money in the transactions, and that Perelman’s claims were “frivolous.” (more…)

Art dealer Larry Gagosian’s lawsuit against former client Charles Cowles incurred a setback by a U.S. District Court judge.  The 44-page court finding, issued last week, has illustrated issues with the nature of the sales relationship between Cowles and Gagosian which may call into question whether or not Gagosian officially represented Cowles in the sale of Mark Tansey’s “The Innocent Eye Test.”  “(We) believe that the potential strength of Mr. Cowles’s legal defenses outweighs the relatively moderate level of fault,” wrote judge Michael Dolinger.

(more…)

New York art dealers R. Scott Cook and his wife Sousanna A.E. Cook have been ordered to pay $17.96 million in damages to collector George Ball after allegedly fleeing the country with 11 of his works, including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse.  Ball claims that the couple had agreed to sell his pieces at Christie’s on his behalf, but instead left the country for France without ever listing the works.

(more…)

The now-defunct Knoedler & Co. gallery agreed to settle the lawsuit over an allegedly fake $17 million Jackson Pollock. The terms of the settlement are undisclosed. Pierre Lagrange, co-owner of London-based GLG Partners Inc., sued in 2011 over a the painting, Untitled 1950, because neither Sotheby’s or Christie’s would consign the work without its prior inclusion in the catalogue raisonné. The gallery, which had been in business since 1846, closed the day after the lawsuit was filed. (more…)