Serving as a museum trustee is prestigious and can be gratifying, but here’s why you should tread carefully.
As careful attorneys, we are not much given to games of chance like roulette or, the way Thomas plays it, golf. Others whom we advise, though, are somewhat less averse to risk, and enjoy eating oysters in the sun or even serving as trustees for prestigious museums. Continue reading “Hidden Hazards”
Protecting your stake in an artwork may not be as simple as it seems, especially when you consign it to a gallery.
According to one of our most faithful readers, we spend too much time gallivanting about at gallery openings and attending fancy dinners with art collectors. Our mother may be right, but our legal practice also has a serious side: On occasion, we are called upon to deliver especially bad news regarding our clients’ art-world investments. And consignments of art produce more bad news than any other area of our firm’s practice. Continue reading “The Perils of Consigning”
You plan to import a work of art. Whether or not you pay duty on it depends on whether the government agrees that it is art.
“Nice couch,” Thomas said, glancing at the photograph in Eunice’s hand. “But it looks a bit uncomfortable.”
“It’s a conceptual granite sculpture,” Eunice replied, rolling her eyes. “The artist calls it Form Meets Futon. The work was carved in Europe and when I arranged to bring it here, the shipper claimed I’d have to pay duty. But that’s clearly wrong, since art comes into the U.S. duty-free.” Continue reading “But is it Art?”
Your valuable artwork comes with a certificate of authenticity. What can you do if it turns out to be fake?
Some of our clients want us to work miracles, while others merely want the impossible. And then there was Dan, a hedge fund manager who arrived at our office balancing his BlackBerry and two cell phones on top of a 19th-century painting that he had inherited from his grandfather. Continue reading “Reversal of Fortune”
Tribal artifacts may be the world’s cultural footprints, but if you want to reproduce them, you’d better watch your step.
We should have known better. When Michael called for a consultation, he was oddly evasive about his business affairs, but we agreed to see him anyway. Continue reading “On Sacred Ground”
You allow two dealers to handle an artwork, and one of them makes the sale. Do you owe both a commission?
“I tried to sell a Chinese antique, but I may have bought a lawsuit instead!” Arabelle cried, as she sat in our conference room early one morning. Litigation doesn’t particularly scare us, so we asked her to calm down and explain. Continue reading “Double Dealing”
Sure, they’re cutting-edge. But the latest technologies in contemporary art can also be double-edged.
Hell. That’s what it was like negotiating with an unusually difficult artist for the purchase of Heaven, a multimedia installation composed of cloud-patterned wallpaper, blue fluorescent bulbs, streaming Internet and video. Our client Lili, a collector who had no interest in anything created more than a week ago, wanted the piece installed in her home and agreed to a purchase price of $100,000.
Or so she thought. Continue reading “New Frontiers”
When it comes to politically sanctioned countries, the art trade walks a complicated line.
When a Miami dealer recently phoned to ask us about “trading with the enemy,” we initially thought he meant buying art from a competing gallery.
It turned out he was speaking literally. He was considering an exhibition of “dissident art” from “embargoed countries” (nations against which the U.S. has imposed sanctions) and wanted to avoid any legal snags. “I’m thinking of focusing on Cuba,” the dealer explained, “and I’d like to commission paintings from artists currently living in Havana. What’s my risk?” Continue reading “Dangerous Liaisons”
You buy property and want to remove art installed by a previous owner. It might not be that easy.
Ars longa, vita brevis. As one of our clients discovered, that is not always a good thing.
Heather was the proud new owner of a beautiful country house. The only wrinkle was that the previous owner had commissioned an up-and-coming artist to decorate it in the style of a Roman villa, and Heather’s taste ran more to I.M. Pei than I, Claudius. “No matter,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll simply rip out every awful piece of ‘art’ in the place.” Continue reading “Moral Grounds”
You entrust a precious object to a dealer. Without a detailed contract, what does he really owe you?
First, there was a violin. It was a Stradivarius, built by the master in the mid 1690’s, just before his “golden period.” It had a deep ochre finish and an angelic sound.
Next came our client Sophie, an amateur violinist who had inherited the instrument from her grandmother. She also inherited expensive tastes that she found difficult to support on her income as a librarian.
Then there was Sophie’s violin teacher. “Ever thought of selling your Strad?” he asked her one day. “I might know just the dealer for you.” Continue reading “Playing by the Rules”