Thursday, March 28, 2024
 


Cariou v. Prince: Trial or Settlement


According to The Art Newspaper, lawyers for Richard Prince and his dealer Larry Gagosian have responded to a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by French photographer Patrick Cariou, vigorously arguing that Prince’s appropriation of Cariou’s photographs of Rastafarians for a recent series of paintings is protected under the US doctrine of “fair use”.

cariou.jpg

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Hearst Castle to Return Nazi “loot”


Three 16th century oil paintings that have been hanging in William Randolph Hearst’s famous castle at San Simeon belonged to a Jewish couple who were forced to give them up during the Nazi reign in Germany. Read the entire story from the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

NY Tax-Exempt Organizations Run Afoul of IRS


This story came out a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve been meaning to mention it. Federal law prohibits nonprofits classified as 501 (c) 3 organizations from making political donations or participating in campaigns. Those that do risk losing their tax-exempt status. According to the New York Times, this seems to be happening quite often in New York.

A review of campaign-finance and federal tax records shows that at least 81 tax-exempt charities have given contributions to legislative candidates since 2005, with some organizations giving more than once to multiple candidates. While the amounts were not eye-popping, the contributions often flowed to lawmakers who helped the charities secure state money. The donations — by museums, churches, hospitals, even Little Leagues and soccer clubs — underscore the lack of oversight of lawmakers’ fund-raising practices in the state.

One wonders if these reviews are guided in part by politics and political affiliation. It would be interesting to research the political identities of the recipients. A word to the wise to tax-exempt New York arts organizations.

 

Museums Won’t Return Grosz Paintings


The son of pre-war Berlin artist George Grosz is asking museums in Europe, Asia and the United States to return several of his father’s paintings they acquired decades ago. So far, the museums have ignored the requests, arguing the works were obtained legally and not under dubious circumstances as claimed by Grosz’s son, Marty Grosz.

Grosz, who lives in the US city of Philadelphia, has termed their refusal “awfully unjust.” He dreams of a museum honouring his father being set up in Berlin.

According to Grosz, the prices paid for many of the paintings, many also confiscated by the Nazis, “were pitifully low.” More from the Earth Times here.

 

Conflicting Lawsuits Over Motherwell


From the NY Times:

According to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by Ms. Banach in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against the Dedalus Foundation — formerly known as the Motherwell Foundation — she was fired from the organization, where she was a board member and held various positions, because of authentication disputes about the artist’s work.

But according to a lawsuit the foundation filed on Wednesday in Federal District Court for the Southern District against Ms. Banach, she abused her access to Motherwell’s studio, stealing his work, some of which she sold for her own benefit in a breach of fiduciary duty.

 

Museums to Return Art Looted by Nazis


From The Guardian:

Ministers are preparing to back a new law that would allow museums to restore artwork looted by the Nazis to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

 

Who Owns Commissioned Artwork?


Joaquin Barriendos-Rodríguez sends us this information on what seems like an interesting panel at the Lecture Hall of the Chelsea College of Art and Design. Two corrections to keep in mind: Mass MoCA sued Christoph Büchel seeking a court order that would allow them to exhibit Büchel’s art work without his consent, and two, Büchel did not abandon the installation.

The link provided is dead, but we are trying to locate a live link. The lecture takes place on March 30th, 2009. Speakers include:

Daniel McClean, Withers LLP; Kate Bush, Head of Art Galleries, Barbican; and Prof. Elke Bippus, University of the Arts, Zurich/Switzerland. It’s unfortunate that none of the lawyers that represented (or are representing) Büchel, were asked to speak. Büchel is currently appealing the district court’s opinion. For more information on the appeal, click here.

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