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”

When buying and selling online, collectors need to know a whole new set of rules.

We would have trouble bringing some of our clients home for dinner. Take Tobias, for example.

He called us from Berlin and said he was a wealthy businessman looking to refine his extensive collection of S&M-themed artwork and gadgets – some of it, apparently, quite valuable. He planned to buy and sell pieces through an American online auction site and wanted to discuss any possible legal issues. Continue reading “Virtual Reality”

A generous bequest touches off an ownership dispute. How does the law interpret a donor’s intentions?

Catalina had been a trustee of a respected New York museum for many years, and as it turned out, she was allergic to oysters.
Very, very allergic.
Her funeral service was short and sweet, and we soon found ourselves back at Catalina’s Fifth Avenue town house for the reception, watching her grieving sisters calculate their inheritance. Given the size of her estate, this took quite some time.
Bruce, the museum’s director, was in the midst of telling us what a loyal trustee Catalina had been when her 8-year-old nephew interrupted, asking if he could speak with him “about something superimportant.” Continue reading “Points of No Return”

The policy on sunken treasure used to be “finders keepers.” Now shipwreck salvagers must navigate complex laws to avoid being marooned in court.

A faithful, long-time reader (OK, our sister Susan) once posed a very interesting question: “Who owns cultural artifacts located in ancient shipwrecks?” Since Susan was 5 years old at the time and busy building a sand castle on the beach, those may not have been her exact words, but we got her drift.
According to Unesco, some three million sunken ships remain undiscovered in the ocean. Based on our research, there seem to be almost as many laws, treaties and conventions governing the ownership of artifacts on these wrecks. This may explain why it took us nearly 35 years to answer Susan’s question. Continue reading “Murky Waters”

Artists don’t always need permission to cash in on a celebrity’s likeness. But how far can they go?

Even our assistant, Juniper, was impressed when the call came from Elle one morning. Our client had been a Hollywood celebrity for so long that many had forgotten why she was even famous in the first place. Continue reading “The Big Picture”

As a playwright (not our client) once wrote: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Under U.S. obscenity laws, if Rose looks younger than 18 but actually isn’t, the same amount of jail time would apply.

A prospective client of ours almost learned this the hard way. George, a photography dealer, asked us to represent him in connection with a proposed gallery exhibition that would reinterpret Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Being fans of great literature (our mother is an English Professor), we thought it sounded like a great idea. As it turned out, it wasn’t. Continue reading “Obscene Or Not Obscene”

Phantom bids, shill bids, secret signals – a lot more can happen in an auction salesroom.

The two of us are such shameless technological Luddites that until recently we thought that eBay was a honeymoon destination in the Caribbean. By contrast, our client Bowne had developed an Internet technology so complicated that he probably didn’t understand it himself, and made a tremendous fortune in the process. Continue reading “House Rules”