UNITED STATES
SCOTUS Will Hear Appeal by German Museums over Jewish
Heirs' Claims that the Sale of the Guelph Treasure Was a
Genocidal Taking
In a lawsuit filed in 2015, Jewish heirs of German art owners who
sold the Guelph Treasure (gilded German reliquaries dating back to
the 11th to 15th centuries) to the Nazi-controlled Prussian
government in 1935, claim that the sale was a "genocidal
taking." The heirs seek restitution of
the reliquaries from the Applied Arts Museum in Berlin, which are
overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK). SPK
unsuccessfully argued before the district court and a federal
appeals court that this case should be dismissed on the grounds
that U.S. courts cannot hear lawsuits against foreign governments
and their agencies. Following a recent filing by the U.S. Solicitor
General, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted an appeal by the German
museums on the grounds that the sale was a domestic seizure and
that the heirs failed to make the case that the forced sale was a
violation of international law. The attorney for the heirs called
the U.S. government's position "shocking" and a
departure from U.S. policy since it means that the forced sale of
Jewish property in Nazi Germany did not amount to a violation of
international law. Oral arguments are expected between December
2020 and February 2021.
- The Art Newspaper: U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Berlin museums' appeal in lawsuit over restitution of medieval treasures to Jewish heirs
- The Art Newspaper: U.S. government recommends that the Supreme Court hear German museums' appeal on Guelph Treasure claim
Virginia's Capital City Removes Monuments Honoring
Virginia's Confederate Past. Two Statues of Robert E. Lee Are
Caught in a Legal Battle.
Controversial monuments are being taken down in Richmond, Virginia,
once the capital of the Confederacy. Following weeks of nationwide
protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd and Virginia
Governor Ralph Northam's instructions to the state's
Department of General Services to remove the statue "as soon
as possible." But the prominent statue of Robert E. Lee,
commander of the Confederate Army, remain - arguably the most
controversial of the Richmond monuments - as it is embroiled in a
legal battle over a deed the state signed when it accepted the
statue. Specifically, when the state took the property, it promised
the local landowners that it would keep the statue in perpetuity.
The court is to decide whether the century-old agreement is
enforceable. Another Lee statue remains in place in
Charlottesville, the object of another legal battle focusing on
whether state law prevents localities from removing Confederate
monuments. Virginia state law changed this past April, allowing the
localities to do just that. And yet, due to a permanent injunction
issued last year, the parties are in limbo until the court lifts
the injunction.
- Artnet: The Confederate Memorials in the Center of Richmond, Virginia, Including a 130-Year-Old Statue of Robert E. Lee, Are Coming Down
- NBC News: Confederate monuments coming down in Virginia, but 2 prominent Lee statues remain
Albuquerque Statue Honoring Conquistador Temporarily
Removed after Militia Member Opens Fire on Protesters Attempting to
Remove It
La Jornada is a controversial monument on the grounds of
the Albuquerque Museum that was the subject of protests by Native
American activists, who attempted to remove the statue depicting
Juan de Oñate, a Spanish conquistador, who ordered the
murder of more than 800 indigenous people in 1599. A member of a
militia group calling itself the "New Mexico Civil Guard"
attacked female protesters and used pepper spray before finally
opening fire and wounding a protester. Tim Keller, Mayor of
Albuquerque, removed the sculpture temporarily as a matter of
public safety, but lacks the authority to permanently remove the
piece, which is part of the city's public art collection under
the city's jurisdiction. Officials have expressed the desire
for a public dialogue and a community-led process to determine the
ultimate fate of the piece.
Southern District of New York Dismisses Artist Cady
Noland's Lawsuit over the Unauthorized Restoration of Her
Log Cabin Sculpture for the Third Time in Four
Years
For the third time since 2016, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit
filed by U.S. sculptor Cady Noland, who argued that a German
collector restored her Log Cabin work beyond recognition
and created an unauthorized copy. In addition to raising
"questions about what makes a work of art unique, what a
collector is or isn't allowed to do with art he owns, and at
what point conservation becomes tantamount to creating an entirely
new object," the lawsuit presented complicated jurisdictional
and choice of law questions. The sculpture was created in the
United States and restored in Germany with American components.
Ultimately, the court determined that (1) U.S. copyright
protections do not apply because the restoration occurred outside
of the country and (2) the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), which
protects an artist's moral rights in her work, did not apply
because the work was created before the statute's enactment.
According to her attorney, Noland is contemplating an appeal.
Whether an artist may sue a collector under U.S. law for conserving
an artwork without permission remains an open question.
- Artnet: Cady Noland Said a Collector Restored Her Log Cabin Sculpture Beyond Recognition. A Judge Has Thrown Out Her Lawsuit-for the Third Time
- The Art Newspaper: Court dismisses Cady Noland's lawsuit against collector and dealers who conserved Log Cabin sculpture
Second Circuit Stays 5Pointz Litigation to Allow
Developers to File Petition for Certiorari to the U.S.
Supreme Court
A lawsuit filed by aerosol artists who worked at the famed 5Pointz
location in New York, which resulted in a $6.75 million judgment
against the developer who removed their works in violation of the
Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA), is not over yet. After
the trial court refused to set aside its findings, grant a new
trial or reduce the damages, the developers successfully petitioned
for a stay to file a petition for writ of certiorari to
the Supreme Court of the United States. The developers'
arguments to the Supreme Court will focus on whether the
"recognized stature" standard in VARA is
unconstitutionally vague and whether the damages award was a due
process violation.
- Institute of Art & Law: 5Pointz case stayed pending petition to U.S. Supreme Court
Inigo Philbrick Charged with Fraud and Now in U.S.
Custody
Notorious art dealer Inigo Philbrick, who is accused of defrauding
art collectors, investors and lenders out of more than $20 million,
was arrested by the FBI on the Pacific island of Vanuatu. He now
stands accused of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to the criminal complaint, Philbrick, who has been on the
run since October, "made material misrepresentations and
omissions to art collectors, investors, and lenders to access
valuable art and obtain sales proceeds, funding, and loans .
knowingly misrepresented the ownership of certain artworks, for
example, by selling a total of more than 100% ownership in an
artwork to multiple individuals and entities without their
knowledge, and by selling artworks and/or using artworks as
collateral on loans without the knowledge of co-owners, and without
disclosing the ownership interests of third parties to buyers and
lenders." Prominent works involved in the scheme include
Humidity by Jean-Michel Basquiat, a 2010 untitled painting
by Christopher Wool and an untitled painting of Picasso by Rudolf
Stingel.
- The New York Times: Art World Wunderkind Arrested Months After Fleeing the U.S.
- The Art Newspaper: Fugitive art dealer Inigo Philbrick found on Pacific island, charged with $20 million fraud scheme
Leading Modigliani Scholar Sues the Wildenstein Plattner
Institute for Copyright Violations and Misappropriation of Trade
Secrets
Amadeo Modigliani is a sought-after and widely forged artist,
making authenticating his work a very profitable business. Marc
Restellini, a recognized Modigliani expert who plans to publish a
catalogue raisonné next year, recently filed a lawsuit in
New York against the Wildenstein Plattner Institute to prevent it
from publishing his research online and to destroy any digital
copies in its possession. Restellini formerly collaborated with
Daniel Wildenstein and oversaw the Wildenstein Institute. After
Daniel's death, his son, Guy, oversaw the Institute. When Guy
teamed up with German collector Hasso Plattner to create the
Wildenstein Plattner Institute to digitize art-historical
documents, Guy gave Restellini's papers to the Wildenstein
Plattner Institute. According to Restellini, Wildenstein Institute
never acquired rights to nor had permission to transfer his
work.
U.S. Court Rules that an Auction House Cannot Sue a
Foreign Government that Demanded Withdrawal of a Lot Due to
Allegedly Questionable Provenance
In a highly unusual move, Sotheby's filed a declaratory
judgment action against Greece after the Greek ministry contacted
the auction house to prevent the sale of an eighth century
Equestrian Statue from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet
due to the piece's allegedly suspicious provenance.
Sotheby's sought a ruling that Greece had no ownership rights
and that the piece had been acquired lawfully and in good faith.
However, the court found that, under the Foreign Sovereign
Immunities Act, Greece was not subject to such rulings because it
was not acting out of commercial interests. According to a lawyer
for Greece, the decision enables foreign governments to communicate
with art market participants to prevent the sale of illicit goods,
which will ultimately protect consumers. Sotheby's maintains
that there is no evidence to support Greece's claims to
ownership and that it is evaluating its next steps.
LOVE Artist's Legacy Is Mired by
Litigation
A series of lawsuits have arisen in the wake of the death of Pop
Art pioneer Robert Indiana, most known for his rendering of the
word "LOVE." Litigation involving Jamie Thomas,
Indiana's caretaker during the final years of his life,
concluded with Thomas being excluded from the museum Indiana
provided for in his will. Thomas also was removed from the board of
the Star of Hope Foundation, the nonprofit that would operate the
museum. Court filings allege that Thomas took advantage of Indiana,
while others assert that Thomas was a faithful friend who was
carrying out Indiana's wishes. Additional litigation by the
Morgan Art Foundation asserts that Thomas, along with a New York
art publisher, improperly used the Indiana name and created
substandard works that undermined Indiana's legacy. Morgan and
the artist's Estate are embroiled in another lawsuit, wherein
the Estate has accused Morgan of not paying Indiana royalties to
which he was entitled and Morgan has, in turn, accused the trustee
of mismanaging Indiana's Estate by spending $3 million in legal
fees to outside lawyers and taking $550,000 in fees and expenses
for the work in representing the Estate. Questions regarding the
validity of Indiana's 2016 will and whether it was the product
of undue influence also are being explored. Thomas, who is in
possession of Indiana's ashes, has not yet held a public
memorial for Indiana. He promises only to lay him to rest when the
turmoil over the estate ends.
- New York Times: The Artist's Caretaker: Once He Controlled Everything. No More.
NORTH AMERICA
University of Arizona Researchers Discover Oldest and
Largest Maya Ceremonial Complex in Southern Mexico
Using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) tools, archaeologists
located an artificial plateau constructed between 1,000 and 800 BC
in Tabasco, Mexico, near the northwest border of Guatemala. The
site, which once included multiple structures, is known as Aguada
Fenix and is the oldest and largest Maya monument discovered to
date. Absent are the large stone structures associated with the
ruling elite, which suggests that the site was built without
coordination by a powerful centralized government. The discovery
challenges the traditionally held archaeological thought that
social inequality develops when the powerful elements of society
organized large construction projects by using the labor of the
less powerful. Instead, Aguada Fenix demonstrates that "the
potential of human collaboration . does not necessarily require a
centralized government."
- Artnet: Archaeologists Have Discovered the Largest, Oldest Mayan Monument to Date, and It Appears to Have Been Built by the People, for the People
- Nature: Monumental architecture at Aguada Fénix and the rise of Maya civilization
EUROPE
European Protesters Target Colonialist Statues in
Solidarity with the Protests that Originated in the United
States
In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota,
protests erupted in the United States and spread across the globe
to Europe, where protesters are confronting their own
countries' historical ties to slavery and colonialism. In
Bristol, England, protestors used ropes to bring down a statue
commemorating the philanthropy of Edward Colston, a 17th century
slave trader. After symbolically kneeling on the statue's neck
to mimic the manner in which Floyd was killed, protestors rolled
the statue into the Bristol harbor. In London, spray-paint wielding
protesters targeted a monument dedicated to Winston Churchill and
covered it with symbols and messages labeling him a racist.
Protesters in Belgium targeted monuments throughout the country,
including setting fire to a bust of King Leopold and covering it in
red paint.
Major UK Museums and Galleries Contemplate a
Class-Action Lawsuit Against Insurers Due to Losses from COVID-19
Shutdowns
More than 50 UK art organizations with claims ranging from
£50,000 to £35 million are preparing a class-action
lawsuit against insurers seeking payment for business interruption
losses incurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to
a representative from RK Harrison, the fine art division of Howden
Broking Group, business interruption coverage is an add-on to most
insurance policies, but having the coverage on its own does not
necessarily mean that the insured will have a claim since most
policy language does not include losses related to communicable
diseases. Business interruption claims are not confined to the art
world. Bars, restaurants, and even financial traders have suffered
catastrophic losses. The wave of litigation related to business
interruption claims follows a move by the Financial Conduct
Authority, the UK's financial watchdog, seeking clarification
of business interruption insurance rights from the courts.
- The Art Newspaper: Insurers hit by art world class action law suit as coronavirus crisis bites
Prominent German Socialite Arrested in Portugal after
Missing London Court Date Related to Fraudulent Art
Sales
Calouste Gulbenkian, German socialite and self-described fine art
collector who married into a prominent oil family that funds a
multibillion-dollar private foundation and a Lisbon museum, was
arrested in Portugal after failing to appear in a London court to
answer charges related to a UK-issued European arrest warrant for
fraudulent sales of a Warhol print and a Kusama sculpture. A
separate civil lawsuit is pending against Gulbenkian's mother
in Germany, to whom Gulbenkian is accused of gifting £221,000
after receiving payment for the Kusama sculpture.
- The Art Newspaper: German art dealer and socialite Angela Gulbenkian arrested in Lisbon
Famed Italian Prosecutor Who Ushered in a Period of
Repatriation for Italian Patrimony and Recovered Hundreds of
Millions of Dollars in Artifacts Dies at 72
Paolo Giorgio Ferri recently died of a heart attack in a Rome
hospital. Ferri's storied 45-year career began as a judicial
magistrate and public prosecutor, but it was his personal interest
in classical history that led him to a position at the Cultural
Ministry where he worked for more than 20 years to bring home
looted Italian patrimony by prosecuting antiquities' crimes
around the globe. Ferri was the first to use the courts to target
powerful collectors, museums and dealers who trafficked in looted
goods. His efforts compelled "the great giveback," or
return of more than $1 billion in antiquities to Greece and Italy
from American museums. His most significant accomplishments
resulted from a coordinated effort between the Italian and Swiss
police to raid a warehouse in the Geneva Free Port that housed
goods and records for the renowned Italian art dealer Giacomo
Medici. The raid led to the Met's return of the Euphronios
Krater (an ancient Greek terracotta calyx-krater) and the first,
shocking criminal indictment of an American museum curator and an
American art dealer for allegedly illegally acquiring looted goods
(although the charges were eventually dismissed). Ferri's
trailblazing efforts created a road map for his colleagues to
continue his work.
- New York Times: Paolo Giorgio Ferri, Hunter of Looted Antiquities, Dies at 72
Banksy's Stolen Bataclan Mural Found in
Italy
Italian police recovered a Banksy artwork stolen in 2019 from the
Bataclan Theater in Paris, the site of a terrorist attack that
killed 90 people in 2015. No arrests have been made in connection
with the recovery. The piece, which was created as a memorial,
features a white spray-painted image of a sad, veiled woman on one
of the theater's black emergency exit doors, will be returned
to the Bataclan. The artwork was found at a farmhouse attic in
Abruzzo region of Italy.
AUSTRALIA
Aboriginal Artists Likely Used Beeswax Stencils to
Create 500-Year-Old Cave Paintings
Archaeologists and anthropologists from Flinders University and
Monash University recently developed a theory about how Australian
Aboriginal artists created the 500-year-old cave art at Yilbilnji.
The art at Yilbilnji, located in the Gulf of Carpentaria region in
Northern Australia, is unique because of its small scale and the
quantity of miniature human and animal figures. Typically, rock art
stencils are large in scale. Scientists worked with local
indigenous Marra people to replicate the miniature art; they
created a variety of stencils using materials native to the region
and found that the stencils made by heating and shaping beeswax, a
technique long-used to make toys and repair tools in the region,
worked best. The theory is supported by similar stencils found at
sites in New South Wales and Indonesia. Scientists further
hypothesized that the paintings were made by children because they
were placed low and close to the ground.
- Artnet: Archaeologists May Have Uncovered the Secret Ingredient Behind Australia's Mysteriously Precise Cave Paintings: Beeswax
- Antiquity: A rare miniature and small-scale stencil assemblage from the Gulf of Carpentaria: replication and meaning in Australian rock art
ASIA
Artist's Estate Sues Indonesia Theme Park for
Copying Famous Urban Light Installation
The Estate of Chris Burden sued Rabbit Town, an Indonesian theme
park and popular selfie destination, for copying Urban
Light (2008), which stands at the entrance to the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. The lawsuit comes after the estate attempted
to extend an ex post facto license for the use, but Rabbit Town was
unresponsive. Rabbit Town, which is located in the UNESCO Creative
City of Bandung, is part of Indonesia's Wisata Selfie or selfie
destination tourism, also has been accused of copying other works,
such as Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room, Colette
Miller's angel wing murals and whimsical rooms from the Museum
of Ice Cream.
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