Posted on: January 27, 2016 by Judith Bouchardeau and Mathilde Roellinger
The discovery of the art forgery scandal perpetrated by Wolfang Beltracchi has given rise to a number of legal proceedings. The recent decision of the Court of Appeal of Versailles, involving art expert Werner Spies and a painting attributed to Max Ernst, is among them. The facts are as follows. At the 2004 Paris Biennale […]
Posted on: December 10, 2015 by Alexander Herman
A recent report involving a Dalí painting, Figura en una taula (pictured below), has once again brought the issue of cultural export controls into focus. The Dalí painting, owned by an Italian national named Elena Quarestani, has been blocked by the Italian authorities from leaving the country. This is because it has been subject to a ‘declaration of […]
Posted on: October 27, 2015 by Alexander Herman
This is a short update on our piece from this summer about the export ban placed on the £15 million Sekhemka statue. While it may have seemed doubtful that a UK entity would be willing (or, more importantly, able) to buy the statue and keep it in the country, there does now appear to be interest in doing so. […]
Posted on: October 15, 2015 by Alexander Herman
As hinted at, there is another painting currently hanging at the Goya exhibition at the National Gallery with a story to tell. Unlike the Marquesa de Santa Cruz, this one relates to an episode involving theft, a botched ransom scheme and the adoption of new criminal legislation. It is a portrait painted by Francisco Goya over a two-year […]
Posted on: October 7, 2015 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
Today, Sotheby’s New York will be auctioning off a print of a controversial Robert Mapplethorpe photograph entitled Man in Polyester Suit (no, we won’t describe it for you). Twenty-five years ago the work was at the centre of criminal proceedings brought against the Cincinnati Art Center and its director for contravening US obscenity laws after the institution had […]
Posted on: May 26, 2015 by Nina M. Neuhaus
On 13 May, the Institute of Art and Law with the generous support of Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP hosted a seminar exploring a variety of legal issues surrounding international art transactions. Here is a brief summary: The first speaker was Professor Norman Palmer (3 Stone Buildings), who discussed the various risks associated with the international transfer of cultural […]
Posted on: May 7, 2015 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
Just a reminder that the IAL’s International Art Transactions seminar hosted by Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP will run next Wednesday, 13 May 2015, from 2 pm until 5.30 (drinks reception to follow). For more information and to book a spot, go here. The programme is as follows: Programme 2 pm Registration 2.30 Welcome Richard Turnor, Partner, […]
Posted on: March 13, 2015 by Alexander Herman
The British Museum has an upcoming exhibition of art and artefacts from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders entitled Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilization set to open on 23 April 2015. However, as one recent Guardian article makes clear, all is not well in relations between the museum and representatives of certain indigenous groups, namely the Dja Dja Wurrung people of central Victoria. This […]
Posted on: February 27, 2015 by Alexander Herman
A complaint was filed this week in a US court which seeks the return of the Guelph Treasure, a famous collection of German medieval items, currently held by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The complaint is being brought by descendants of the one-time Jewish owners of the treasure, who had to part with it in 1935. The collection had […]
Posted on: November 14, 2014 by Alexander Herman
Northampton Borough Council, which had earlier this year sold at auction a rare Egyptian statue in its collection for £15.76 million, has been dealt another blow. The 4,000-year-old statue of Sekhemka, an Egyptian Old Kingdom artefact thought to represent a court official and high priest, had originally been bestowed by the Marquess of Northampton sometime […]