Art Law Gallery : Art Law Lawyer & Attorney : Sheppard Mullin Law Firm : Intellectual Property, Licensing Law : Art Law Gallery Legal Blog

The success of the art market depends largely on confidence in the authenticity of artists’ works. Traditionally, a work in an artist’s “catalogue raisonné” has been key to confirming the authenticity, and thus value. To that point, a recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (“S.D.N.Y.”) regarding a purported Jackson Pollock work underscores the importance of the catalogue raisonné in pre-purchase due diligence, and shows that omission from the catalogue could be potentially disastrous to the value of a work. See Lagrange v. Knoedler Gallery, LLC, 11-cv-8757 (S.D.N.Y.) (filed Dec. 1, 2011). 

Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The recent news that the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc. will dissolve in early 2012 brings the role of authentication boards in the art world to the fore once again. The Board, which has been charged with authenticating the works of Andy Warhol since 1996, has been the subject of controversy, probably owing more to the nature of Andy Warhol's art-making process and his fame rather than anything the Board may have done. Warhol was famous for industrializing the art-making process, frequently directing others to execute works on his behalf. The question of what makes a Warhol is subjective and is open to changing interpretation as scholarship develops, as it involves current thinking on what steps of the art-making process the artist must control in order for a piece to be considered attributable to that artist. The Warhol market is also gargantuan. ArtTactic reports that his art accounted for 17% of contemporary art sales at auction in 2010 and 12% of the total contemporary art sold in the first decade of this century.

Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Christine Steiner joins us from her private practice, having previously served as secretary and general counsel of the J. Paul Getty Trust and the assistant general counsel of the Smithsonian Institution.
 

Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link

Harvard Law School recently announced the formation of the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law (“JSEL”). JSEL will provide the academic community, the sports and entertainment industries, and the broader legal profession with scholarly analysis and research related to the legal aspects of the sports and entertainment communities.
 

Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link