Woman Sues Gagosian Over a Lichtenstein
An elderly woman, Jan Cowles, sued the Gagosian Gallery and Larry Gagosian in NY County Court, claiming it allowed her son to sell a major work by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, without her permission, for far less than its true value. The woman claims that her son Charles Cowles, an art dealer in New York City, sold her Lichtenstein enamel, “Girl in Mirror,” out of financial desperation, while his mother suffered “moderate to severe dementia.”
Cowles wants her artwork back and $10 million in punitive damages for fraud, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.