POW stands for "Portrait of Wally," at Tribeca Film Festival

On April 28 and 29, this Saturday and Sunday, Tribeca Film Festival will show a documentary about the restitution case of Egon Schiele's "Portrait of Wally."

Some details from the press release: "In 1939, Nazis seized control of Austrian art collector Lea Bondi's beloved Egon Schiele painting "Portrait of Wally." For 70 years the Bondi family fought to reclaim the painting in a battle that pitted them against the likes of the Austrian government, billionaire art collectors, MoMA, and NPR."

On Saturday, the screening will be followed with a conversation with director Andrew Shea, journalist David D'Arcy, gallery owner Jane Kallir, and attorneys Willi Korte, Sharon Cohen Levin and Monica Dugot.

Additional Information: TribecaFilm.

Federal Judge Issues Restraining Order To Delay Destruction of Public Art at JFK Airport

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet issued a restraining order against the Terminal 1 Group Association, temporarily halting their plan to destroy artist Alice Aycock's sculptural public work "Star Sifter" to make way for a new food stands at JFK Airport. Installed in 1998, Aycock's "Star Sifter" has been a fixture at JFK for over ten years. When the Terminal 1 Group Association told the artist and School of Visual Arts professor that they would be destroying her statue, she immediately sued, claiming that the removal of her work constituted breach of contract.

The original commission stated that "Star Shifter" would not be removed unless is it was "required or necessary to do so." Aycock's attorneys stated that these circumstances certainly do not qualify. Further, the piece also performs a safety function, serving as a net between the mezzanine from the departure area beyond the security checkpoint.

Aycock is a respected and well-established member of the national artistic community. She has created thirty-two public works, including pieces at other airports and suspended sculptures for the Sacramento Convention Center in California and the Rowland State Government Center in Waterbury, Connecticut. Additionally, MoMA, the Whitney, and the Brooklyn Museum all have Aycock's works in their collections.

About the situation, Aycock commented that other airports that display her work have consulted her when they want to change the space, informing her in advance and working to preserve and reinstall the work. Distinguishing the behavior of these airports from that of JFK, Aycock told the New York Times, "They prioritize the work of art."

The hearing to decide on a final injunction against destroying Aycock's work will take place on Friday.

Read the full New York Times Article: At Kennedy Airport, an Artist Fights to Save Her Sculpture

Firms with Art Law Practice Groups

If you ask any attorney about art-related cases, chances he or she has handled at least one matter related to disposition of a collection, title dispute, tax valuation or theft of an artwork. Nevertheless, not every attorney purports to specialize in art law. How many firms in the United States (small, large and in-between) have art law groups or advertise their art law practice areas? The number is not available, or at least known to the author. My theory is that there are many more firms that recognize value in featuring art law than one would expect. One of the new sections of this website is a List of Firms that have openly declared that they do have Art Law expertise.  The list is not all-inclusive and it will grow. If there is a firms that you believe we should add to the list, please let us know. Currently, the list does not include solo practitioners or newly created first. The focus is on established larger organizations. In the future, we will add solo practitioners to the mix.

What should potential clients do with a list such as this? Rejoice. There are clearly options available for those in need of art law services. Potential clients should read reviews as well as promotional materials produced by the firms, such as PBLT's The Legal Canvas and Herrick's Art & Advocacy, ask for recommendations and may be a price list. What about students seeking art law experience? Some legwork and homework is inevitable. Art Law Groups notoriously do not hire recent graduates to handle coveted art matters but they may be open to taking interns. Law students should find out whether these firms employ alums from their school and ask for informational interviews (not jobs). If the law firm route is for you, strive to secure a position with one of the firms that has an Art, Cultural Property or Museum Law practice area and partners. Being on the inside may in time lead to assisting with art cases, 10-20% of your working/waking time is better than nothing.

What is Art Law: Part I

Opinions vary on what exactly is 'art law.' Some believe it is a niche, and the lucky few to practice 'art law' fall into it rather than make a conscious decision to do it and little else. Others deny its very existence, because, after all, giving advice on tax issues to an estate of an artist is just like giving advice to an estate of a banker, and litigating a case involving an auction house differs little from that involving a hospital. And yet, there are Art Law Committees and Interest Groups in many bar associations nationwide and internationally, there are firms with art law groups, and there are museums, auction houses and artists and collectors employing attorneys.

Law is a discipline that thrives on interpretation. Those who chose to marginalize or deny art law as a legitimate practice area may be convinced they are right but the rest of us view them with skepticism. Art law is a multidisciplinary practice area that may be difficult to break into but real nevertheless. It brings under its umbrella laws concerning arts and cultural affairs; individuals creating, buying, selling, stealing or destroying art and cultural property; organizations that promote the arts; and all other peripheral service providers that foster and facilitate art trade. Matters concerning authenticity, fractional gifts, theft of art, contested property rights, moral rights, interpretations of international treaties on art loans and import/export restrictions come to the fore daily and worldwide.

This article prefaces a series of reviews and studies dedicated to surveying arts and cultural institutions with legal staff and legal needs, firms with art law groups and clients, controversial legal issues involving art works and objects of cultural import. We have began show casing organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to building art law as a stand alone area. For examples, see Highlight: Commission for Art Recovery (NY); Patty Gerstenblith Presidential Appointee to Chair CPAC; Larry Kaye of Herrick's Art Law Group to Receive Turkish American Business Forum Award. There a many more individuals, resources, and research areas that should be brought together under the rubric of 'Art Law' for the benefit of those already practicing in this field and those seeking a toehold.

Art As Investment: Buyer beware

On April 4, 2012, Cardozo School of Law witnessed a confluence of lawyers, art advisers, academics, auctioneers, gallery employees, art and law students eager to learn about trends in the art market and the risks and return of art as investment. Panel entitled Art as Investment was an exciting and well-attended event because it dealt with sensitive and sensational multidisciplinary topics: art history, law, and business.

The panelists included William N. Goetzmann, Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies Yale School of Management; Marc Porter, chairman and president, Christies’s America; and John Silberman, principal John Silberman Associates. Irina Tarsis (Cardozo, 2011) moderated the panel.

Members in the audience shared in a perennial interest in tax consequences for art collectors, and heirs and estates of artists. They learned of new players arriving onto the art market scene ready to drive prices for works from and by Russian, Chinese and Middle Eastern artists.

One of the conclusions that could be drawn from the presentations is that economics affect the art market and career making decisions alike, and one thing remains certain, there have always been and will always be affluent individuals who having earned or inherited some wealth invest in contemporary art. They just have to remember that if they do so in hopes of earning a return on their investment, while art is more speculative than fundamental stocks and bonds, there is long term gain in collecting. Art is uncertain, risky, personal, subjective, and provocative. Investing in art, as investing in a legal education, is not a light decision, and with some regularity, consumers of both go through a shift in taste.

Photo by Linda Levit.

EASL/NYFA offer Pro Bono Assistance to Artists

The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Section (EASL) of the New York State Bar Association has a Pro Bono Committee. Artists who need legal advice but cannot afford representation are invited to come to the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Clinic in Brooklyn on May 15th and avail themselves of free legal advice provided by members of the EASL and other State Bar Committes. The Clinic takes place between 4 PM and 7 PM. Attorneys interested in volunteering for the Clinic should contact Elissa Hecker of the Pro Bono Steering Committee. Artists in need of legal counsel should contact NYFA.

Source: EASL Blog.

Centennial of Titantic's Sinking Begs Questions about Regulating Recovery of Underwater Relics

This Sunday, April 15, will mark the 100-year-anniversary of the tragic sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean to its resting place, 4,000m off the coast of Newfoundland. The centennial qualifies the underwater site for protection under the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. The convention aims to prevent unscientific and unethical exploration, but only applies to vessels that sank more than a century ago. On the approaching milestone, Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, stated that it was important to protect the site where 1,500 people lost their lives. She added that thousands of other shipwrecks need to be protected from looters, and that "we do not tolerate the plundering of cultural sites on land, and the same should be true for our sunken heritage." Bokova also commented that the sheer horror of the story of the 'unsinkable' ship has been "anchored in the memory of humanity."

However, it is because the tragic tale of the Titanic has remained "anchored in the memory of humanity" that such an active market exists for its underwater treasures. The approaching centennial raises a question that has always been central to studying the past; how should recovery of historical relics be regulated? In recent years, this concern has become increasingly important in underwater archaeology, as techniques for removing objects from greater depths become increasingly sophisticated. Despite legislation that attempted to regulate removal of artifacts, including the R.M.S. Titanic Maritime Memorial Act passed by President Reagan in 1980s, thousands of objects have been taken from the Titanic and hundreds of expeditions to visit the wreck have taken place. In undersea archaeology, the age-old rule of "finders keepers" appears to govern often, especially when given the difficulties of policing underwater thefts.

Amid many events commemorating the Titanic anniversary, including the re-release of James Cameron's "Titanic" in 3D, two responses in particular highlight the clash between legislators, archaeologists, and commercial explorers, who draw different ethical lines separating preservation of artifacts from plunder.

The first is a new exhibit "Titanic-12,450 Feet Below," which will launch this week on Thursday, April 12, at Connecticut's Mystic Aquarium. The exhibit aims to tell the story of the events leading up to the disaster and the eventual discovery of the ship's remains. But, the exhibit will specifically not demonstrate any of recovered artifacts from the Titanic. An proponent of this mandate was Robert Ballard, one of the exhibit designers and former U.S. Navy officer who discovered the Titanic along with French oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel in 1985. Ballard, who has spent 52 years meticulously searching for and preserving underwater wreckages, explained that rather than focusing on the aftermath of the discovery, the exhibit celebrates "the art of the hunt," which required years of painstaking research and undersea searches. Ballard is vehemently opposed to the glorification of explorers who extract and display artifacts for commercial purposes, rather than preserving and respecting the objects. Ballard stated that "the deep sea is the largest museum on our planet, but there's no lock on its door."

Contrast this exhibit with the large auction coordinated by Guernsey's Auction House in New York City, which will put 5,000 artifacts from the ill-fated ship up for auction. Currently owned by R.M.S. Titanic, Inc., a division of Premier Exhibitions Inc, the lot will not sell individually but rather as one collection. Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's explained that the buyer must keep the pieces as one set and that the new owner must also agree to display a considerable portion of the artifacts for public access. This is in accordance with a clause in the R.M.S. Titanic Maritime Memorial Act, which requires salvaged artifacts to further "cultural purposes." Ettinger stated that he is aware of conflicting views regarding extracting artifacts, but believes that recovery of objects from Titanic has helped scientists and archaeologists learn more about the disaster. For example, a 17-ton bulk of the ship's hull is part of the lot to be sold, which Ettinger says has given scientists the opportunity to learn more about the ship's metallurgy and construction, which Ettinger says may be key to helping prevent future catastrophes.

It is hoped that UNESCO protection will curtail removal of artifacts from Titanic in the future. For now, as technology continues to evolve and interest in salvaged artifacts remains constant, underwater archaeology will continue grappling with these ethical concerns.

Federal Court Dismisses Forfeiture Suit Over 3,200-year-old Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer

A decision in favor of the St. Louis Art Museum was recently handed down in federal district court in the dispute over one of its prized artifacts--the 3,200-year-old mummy mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, an ancient Egyptian noblewoman who lived from 1295 to 1186 BCE. In early January, the U.S. Attorney's office filed a forfeiture suit against the museum based on the claims of the Egyptian government that the mask was illegally removed from Egypt. U.S. District Court Judge Henry Autry dismissed the U.S. government's case, citing insufficient evidence to support the contentions that the mask was stolen.

Federal prosecutors claimed that the mask went missing from Cairo's Egyptian Museum over forty years ago. The mask was originally excavated in 1952 from one of the famed Saqqara pyramids, 16 miles south of Cairo. U.S. government investigators suspect that the mask was stolen at some point between 1966, when the mask was shipped to Cairo for an exhibit, and 1973, when the Egyptian Museum discovered it missing.

For its part, the St. Louis Art Museum claims that there was no indication the mask was stolen when it was purchased in 1998 and that the museum conducted a sufficient provenance investigation into the mask's origins. According to research, the mask was part of the Kaloterna private collection during the 1960s and was purchased by Croation collector Zuzi Jelinek in Switzerland. The collector sold it to Phoenix Ancient Art of New York in 1995, from which the museum purchased the mask in 1998. SLAM attorney David Linenbroker stated that the museum has no interest in owning a stolen object and expressed that the museum was confident that it was the rightful owner.

In rendering his decision, Judge Autry explained that the U.S. government "does not provide a factual statement of theft, smuggling, or clandestine importation"--necessary to establish that the taking was unlawful. Autry flatly stated that the government's complaint "fails to assert specific facts supporting an inference that the Mask is subject to forfeiture."

U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan stated that no decision has been made as to whether the government will appeal the decision, for which it has 60 days.

To read more about this topic: Repose for the Mummy: St. Louis Art Museum Wins Ka-Nefer-Nefer Court Case, Federal Judge Rules 3,200-year-old Egyptian Mummy Mask Can Remain at St. Louis Art Museum

Collector v. Photographer on Dilution and Creative Rights

On April 3, 2012, a New York collector, Jonathan Sobel, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Mr. Eggleston, a Memphis photographer, alleging "that the artist's recent decision to print and sell oversized versions of some of his famous images in a Christie's auction has diluted the rarity—and therefore the resale value—of the originals."

Apparently Sobel is asking the court for damages and to bar Eggleston from printing additional varieties of his earlier images, a common practice for photographers to monetize the old negatives decades after the photographs have been taken. Typically the earliest printed images remain most valuable. The Wall Street reported that Eggleston's lawyer position that the lawsuit has "no merit" because the photographer's new format falls within his creative rights.

 Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Knoedler faces another lawsuit

Eric Magnuson of The Art Newspaper reports:

"The recently closed gallery Knoedler & Company has been accused of selling another fake modernist painting in a second lawsuit filed on 28 March in Manhattan Federal Court.... Domenico De Sole, the chairman of Tom Ford’s fashion firm, and his wife Eleanore, are suing Knoedler for $25m, alleging that the gallery “induced” them to pay $8.3m in 2004 for a purportedly fake Mark Rothko painting, Untitled, 1956, that they say is “unsalable and worthless” based on forensic analysis.

A spokesman for the gallery issued a statement saying: “Any suggestion that Knoedler defrauded these or any other of its valued clients is baseless and irresponsible.” A lawyer for Knoedler’s former president, Ann Freedman, who is also named as a defendant in the suit, told the New York Post: “We're going to demonstrate beyond any doubt that this work is authentic”. "

 Read the full story here.