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Leila Amineddoleh Featured in Art She Says Summer Riviera Issue

Our founder has been featured in the Art She Says summer 2021 French Riviera Issue. Her contribution to the magazine discusses art theft, forgeries, government ownership of cultural heritage, World War II restitution matters, and artists’ rights, with a particular focus on the firm’s work and her experience as an art lawyer. This includes our firm’s recent representation of the Italian and GreekMinistries of Culture in federal court. These were landmark cases, sending the message that foreign sovereigns can continue to monitor the art market without fearing lawsuits when making inquiries as to potentially looted antiquities’ whereabouts. The article also touches on the forfeiture of antiquities from Hobby Lobby, since Leila served as a cultural heritage consultant for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in that matter, and another forfeiture case concerning a 13th century painting.

Leila’s contribution concludes with an overview of due diligence and intellectual property rights, which are crucial for private collectors, particularly with the vast number of forgeries and stolen works on the market. The magazine also includes photographs taken by Leila. We invite you to visit the Art She Says website and read the issue to discover more about Leila’s contribution, as well as the other interesting and valuable articles in the publication. Art She Says is the leading digital magazine that empowers women in the art world through the curation of luxury content, networking events, and art advisory services.

An online copy of the article is available HERE.

Fool Me Twice: The Gilgamesh Tablet has been Forfeited from Hobby Lobby

“Gilgamesh Dream Tablet” (Photo courtesy of US Department of Justice)

The epic saga of Gilgamesh continues as Hobby Lobby is once again caught in the crossfire of illicit antiquities trafficking. Yesterday, federal authorities forfeited a 3,500 year old clay cuneiform tablet known as the “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet” from the crafting giant. The tablet contains a portion of the “Epic of Gilgamesh” where the protagonist describes his dreams to his mother. It is considered a rare and ancient masterpiece of world literature.

The federal government had originally seized the tablet in 2019 and filed a civil forfeiture action in May 2020 to return it to Iraq. The tablet’s provenance was falsified to assert that it had been discovered in a box purchased at a California auction in 1981. In reality, the item had been purchased by an American dealer in London in 2003, who then brought it to the US. This timing coincided with widespread looting of archaeological sites in Iraq as a result of the ongoing war with the US. Hobby Lobby purchased the tablet for $1.6 million at a Christie’s auction in 2014, relying on the auction house to perform the appropriate due diligence. It transpired that the previous owner had warned Christie’s that the tablet’s stated provenance would not withstand scrutiny. The auction house failed to notify Hobby Lobby of this fact even after the craft company had expressed concerns. Ultimately, Hobby Lobby cooperated with the authorities and consented to the tablet’s forfeiture.

However, this is not Hobby Lobby’s first brush with the law over looted Middle Eastern antiquities. In 2010, representatives of Hobby Lobby purchased thousands of antiquities originating from Iraq for display at the future Museum of the Bible. The provenance information for the objects was fabricated, listing their origin as Israel or Turkey to avoid suspicions of illicit trafficking. Notably, Hobby Lobby consulted a respected cultural heritage expert regarding its acquisition, but went against her advice and continued with the transaction, ignoring several red flags indicating that the items had been looted. In 2017, a civil forfeiture action was filed and Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a $3.3 million fine and return over 5,500 looted objects to Iraq.

In this instance, our founder Leila Amineddoleh served as a cultural heritage law expert for the Eastern District of New York. She was extensively quoted on her participation in the matter in national media and trade outlets. She noted how the verdict resulted in greater public scrutiny over the purchase of antiquities and a higher expectation of due diligence measures related to provenance, even for so-called “inexperienced” purchasers. (Information about the matter can be found in our prior blog posts here and here.) This approach has indeed borne fruit, as the forfeiture of the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet demonstrates.

Law enforcement authorities in the US have been actively pursuing black market antiquities and disrupting trafficking networks for some time, but judicial enforcement and specialist support are also crucial. Many countries that suffer from cultural property looting and trafficking, including Iraq, have applicable provenance laws that cover items like the tablet. Furthermore, the US has placed import restrictions on Iraqi cultural property since 1990 and implemented sanctions as recently as 2010, allowing the government to seize objects at or after import. Judicial precedent has empowered US courts to recognize foreign patrimony laws and classify such objects as stolen property, increasing their protection on US soil, but government agents rely on knowledgeable attorneys and experts to advise them on cultural property protection and available legal remedies.

Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is proud to have a founder that has advised the government extensively on such matters and is a staunch advocate for responsible acquisition practices to combat the illicit antiquities trade. Our firm deals with various cases involving potentially looted items on behalf of private and public parties, and we are committed to ensuring that cultural property is protected irrespective of origin. Our strong track record in this field is a testament to our expertise and commitment to stemming the trade in looted objects. We commend the Department of Justice for its excellent work and look forward to continued collaboration in the future with law enforcement to ensure that looted antiquities return to their rightful homes.

Looted Artifacts Purchased by Hobby Lobby Are Returned to Iraq

Photo courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Our founder, Leila A. Amineddoleh, served as a cultural heritage law expert for the Eastern District of New York in its case against Hobby Lobby. The national retail chain, Hobby Lobby, purchased over 5,500 ancient artifacts from dealers in the Middle East, after one of the world’s legal heritage experts, Patty Gerstenblith, warned the company about acquiring objects lacking clear provenance. She warned the company that classes of objects from Iraq (including cuneiform tables) have a high probability of being looted from archaeological sites. Ignoring the advice, the company moved forward with the purchases anyway, and the plundered artifacts (bearing shipping labels with falsified information) entered the US illegally.

Yesterday, nearly 4,000 of the pieces were returned to Iraqi officials at the embassy. These objects will most likely be displayed at Iraq’s National Museum.

Our firm is honored to have played a role in such a momentous repatriation. For more information about the case, please read one of our prior blog posts.

Celebrating Our First Anniversary

Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is pleased to celebrate its first anniversary. The litigation and transactional boutique law firm is recognized for its work in the areas of art, cultural heritage, and intellectual property law.

Since our inception, we have been involved in numerous high-profile matters. The law firm’s founder Leila Amineddoleh served as a consultant to the Brooklyn United States Attorney’s Office in the civil case brought against Hobby Lobby (information about the case is available here and here), and likewise serves as a cultural heritage law expert to the New York District Attorney’s Office for antiquities investigations. In that role, she was involved in the repatriation of looted antiquities from Italy and the recent seizure of an ancient Lebanese bull’s head to Lebanon from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Amineddoleh also worked as a legal expert consultant for foreign governments in Europe and Asia on repatriation issues.

Amineddoleh & Associates serves the needs of private clients in a number of areas as well. The firm’s first year has been very active with a host of high-stakes art and intellectual property matters, including the following:

  • Selling art and collectibles (including military items and rare books) around the globe;
  • Serving as legal counsel for a leading international artist concerning his installation at the Smithsonian Institution;
  • Demanding restitution of a stolen multi-million dollar collectible now housed in a private European collection;
  • Protecting the art and IP of well-known artists, such as Samuel Amoia and Lynx Alexander;
  • Recovering artwork for an artist after her sculpture was unlawfully withheld by a gallery;
  • Assisting international art dealers and collectors sell works within the US;
  • Presenting works for sale to artists’ foundation after performing due diligence and authentication;
  • Working with artists’ foundations for licensing and intellectual property permissions;
  • Advising on fair use issues for visual artists;
  • Providing legal counsel to entertainment marketing agencies, such as The Syndicate;
  • Drafting agreements in furtherance of the release of films, such as “Thirst Street;”
  • Seeking funding for film projects;
  • Demanding rescissions from auction houses for the sales of forged works;
  • Representing a nationally acclaimed magician to protect his intellectual property;
  • Establishing non-profit organizations and corporate entities;
  • Prosecuting trademarks, filing cease and desist demands, and developing intellectual portfolios;
  • Drafting contracts for authors, artists, and videogame designers;
  • Representing collectors before cultural ministries to receive permission for international sales.

 

Besides work for our valued clients, Amineddoleh & Associates has been actively weighing in on art and heritage issues in national and international dialogues. We’ve discussed art and heritage issues in numerous publications, including Live Science, Time Magazine, NY Times, Bloomberg News, and iNews. Our founder Ms. Amineddoleh appeared on two nationally aired radio shows, Knowledge@Wharton and WNPR, and she spoke at numerous conferences and presented guest lectures across the country.

 

Ms. Brennan assisted in co-teaching a course on antiquities at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She is actively researching current international and federal legislation controlling cultural property, as well as conducting legal research into artists’ estates and foundations. We’ve been published extensively in sources such as Artsy and Artnet, and Ms. Brennan served as the research assistant for Maxwell L. Anderson’s book Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know.

 

The attorneys at Amineddoleh & Associates are pleased to work in the arts in other capacities. Ms. Brennan is a graphic designer and illustrator in her spare time. Ms. Amineddoleh performs classical piano music, and she curated an art crime exhibition at New York University. Michael Rose is a talented painter. We are proud to actively support the arts, as members of arts organizations, such as Lincoln Center Young Patrons, Young Patrons’ of the Hispanic Society of America, and Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

We look forward to another exciting year ahead. In November, Ms. Amineddoleh will be organizing and speaking at a program on art collecting and due diligence for Harvard Business School at the Harvard Club in New York City. In February, she will be leading a lecture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the history of art collecting. We are proud to contribute to the Antiquities Coalition in a forthcoming policy piece for the group. In the fall, please look for our contribution to a forthcoming book from Bloomsbury Press, Nazi Law: From Nuremberg to Nuremberg.

For more information on the firm’s practice please visit www.artandiplawfirm.com.

 

The Case Against Hobby Lobby

Photo courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

The owners of Hobby Lobby, a devoutly Christian company, have been profiled during the past few years for their questionable acquisitions of historic artifacts and the lack of reputable provenance research related to those items. The problems related to their purchases were publicly aired years ago, with evidence that the company acquires looted items from the Middle East. However, earlier this year, Hobby Lobby came under government scrutiny, leading to a civil forfeiture of thousands of artifacts.

As an advocate for responsible acquisition practices, it was an honor to consult with the Eastern District of New York regarding national and international cultural heritage laws related to purchases made by Hobby Lobby. The substance of the consultation with the government is confidential, however the US Attorney’s Office has officially released some very interesting information about the case. The most distressing, and unusual, aspect of the case is the fact that Hobby Lobby actually consulted with a cultural heritage expert back in 2010. Not only did the company confer with an expert, but they chose one of the most well-respected heritage experts in the world, a woman who has devoted her career to the protection of heritage items, Prof. Patty Gerstenblith. Yet contrary to Gerstenblith’s advice, Hobby Lobby continued to acquire objects that she warned them against purchasing due to the high probability that the pieces were looted.

What is the purpose of consulting with an expert, if that expert’s advice is not followed? It isn’t simply willful ignorance, but it is willfully ignoring important information. Why were red flags disregarded? Hobby Lobby defended itself in their public statement, “The Company was new to the world of acquiring these items, and did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process. This resulted in some regrettable mistakes. The Company imprudently relied on dealers and shippers who, in hindsight, did not understand the correct way to document and ship these items.” But that is not believable since the company had access to information from one of the world’s leading heritage experts.

Another troubling aspect of this case relates to the company’s misrepresentations related to the nature of the goods. Not only did Hobby Lobby lie about the origin of the objects on customs forms, but they also lied about the value of those pieces. Information about the value and origin of an object is “material.” 18 USC 542 deems it a crime to import goods into the US by means of false statements, while 18 USC 545 makes it a crime to smuggle objects into the US.

The circumstances in this case reveal a great deal about the greed and secrecy in the art and antiquities markets. And although the company has agreed to return the artifacts and pay a $3 million fine, the result can never reverse the negative effects from acquiring looted antiquities.

Please return to this blog in the coming weeks for an upcoming article about red flags in the art and antiquities collecting world and for information about the due diligence process for the acquisition of heritage items.

UPDATE: Leila’s piece for Artnet about some of the legal strategies behind the Hobby Lobby matter: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/why-hobby-lobby-verdict-1021247