by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Sep 29, 2023 |
Our founder, Leila Amineddoleh, has recently been featured in New York Metro Super Lawyers Magazine, alongside other leaders in her field. Leila was chosen for the piece as a top-rated intellectual property, art, and cultural heritage lawyer well-known in the industry for getting the job done right. This means advocating both for her clients, and for the art and cultural heritage at issue.
In the article, Leila’s experience working with our former client (and now current friend) Laura Young, is highlighted. Young is our client who found an Ancient Roman marble bust at her local Goodwill in Austin, TX. Our firm has written previously about Leila’s and Laura’s story. Read the incredible journey one Roman bust took from Germany to Texas (and how he found his way home) here.
In the piece by Super Lawyers, Leila’s success working with Laura is illustrative of her signature manner taking care of her clients by providing insight on best practices in the art law field. In Leila’s words, her work as a lawyer requires giving this special level of attention. She says it can require coming up with “creative solutions . . . . As a lawyer, you find out what’s important to someone.”
Later in the article, Leila gives her thoughts on changing attitudes on lawsuits involving stolen antiquities. She connects the rise of modern lawsuits brought by claimants for contested works to a 1995 international investigation in Italy. That investigation exposed many thought-to-be honest dealers as thieves, and revealed and auction houses to be engaging in deceptive practices. Leila explains how the impact of this investigation continues to call objects held by museums, collectors and auction houses into question, leading to an on-going return of hundreds of objects and works of art.
Leila’s success has launched her and her namesake firm to even greater heights. It is an honor to be featured alongside other esteemed colleagues this stand-alone piece. In it, Leila and her colleagues give important guidance on the current industry challenges for art lawyers. Read the piece here.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Jan 26, 2023 |
Madonna in concert in 2005. Credit: David Cushing, https://www.flickr.com/
Madonna, singer of “Vogue” fame, has been asked to negotiate a loan of an 1822 Jerome-Martin Langlois painting from her personal art collection. The mayor of Amiens requested that the singer loan the work to the Musée de Picardie in the French city. The painting was purchased by Madonna in 1989 at auction, around the time that the singer’s fourth studio album was released. Decades later, in 2015, a museum curator recognized the painting after Madonna was featured in an issue of the weekly publication Paris Match Magazine. The article included a photograph of the “Material Girl” in her home, with the painting visible in the background.
When the curator examined the subject matter of the painting in the photo – a small Cupid in flight dashing between Roman mythological figures Diana and Endymion – a match was made. The painting looked remarkably similar to a work once owned by the Musée de Picardie and thought to have been destroyed by World War I bombings. Further inquiry revealed that the painting once thought lost is very likely the work hanging in Madonna’s home.
Notably, the city of Amiens has not accused Madonna of any wrongdoing, and it is not demanding the restitution of the work. Rather, the city has requested a loan. Such a deal could be fortuitous for both Madonna and the city of Amiens. Madonna would keep the painting in her private collection following the loan, and Amiens could display the painting in its original glory. Moreover, Amiens would no doubt benefit from the added publicity of a loan from such an A-list celebrity. This would be particularly timely for the city, coincidentally gunning to be named the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2028. (Amiens, among other cities such as Brovmov in the Czech Republic and Skopje in North Macedonia, are on the most recent short list for the recognition).
Diana and Endymion, Jérôme-Martin Langlois, 1822, Credit: Public Domain
Madonna has yet to respond to the loan request. Her decision whether to accept or reject the offer to negotiate might be influenced (hopefully, positively) by certain outcomes of other high-profile celebrities who have faced ownership claims against artwork held in their personal collections.
Other Celebrities With Problematic Art
One path for some has been to return the work outright. As we discussed previously, Nicolas Cage returned a dinosaur skull he bought at auction once it was established that it had been illegally excavated. Another 80s icon, Boy George, was keen to return a contested piece to its claimant owner. In 2011, the stylish singer returned an icon to Cyprus, to later be reinstalled in the Church of St. Charalambos. The church’s bishop saw the icon in the background of a video interview filmed in Boy George’s home. He recognized the piece as one stolen from the church following Turkish invasion in 1974. Boy George’s graciousness in returning the piece is heartening (he went on record as “happy [to see] the icon going back to its original home.”
Another path forward for celebrities with problematic artwork is to negotiate in good faith with the claimants, in lieu of lengthy and costly litigation. Take, for example, a piece put up for auction by the stewards of the late Gianni Versace’s private art collection. In 2010, a painting that once hung in Versace’s Lake Como villa was consigned for auction at Sotheby’s in London. The listing, a portrait by Johann Zoffany entitled Portrait of Major George Maule caught the eyes of the direct descendants of the painting’s owner. The descendants contacted the Art Loss Register, who negotiated with Sotheby’s. After what was reported as an amicable mediation, the piece was pulled from auction. The work was returned to its original owners, who were “overjoyed” to be able to hang the painting from their own walls.
Van Gogh’s Vue de l’Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy, gracing the catalog cover for the sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection (Credit: Christie’s LLC)
Negotiating has also proven to be a feasible and mutually beneficial option for the Andrew Llyod Webber Art Foundation. After the Foundation put up a Picasso for auction at Sotheby’s in London, heirs of a Jewish family claimed that the work was sold under duress to the Nazi Party by their ancestor. In 2010, the parties reached an agreement of undisclosed terms (and, as the painting is valued at over $60 million, a substantial award was likely given to the family). Following the negotiations, the family willingly relinquished all ownership claims of the work, and seemingly walked away content with their end of the bargain.
However, some celebrities – either with the budget for litigation or incredibly personal ties to the contested work at issue (or both) – are willing to fight in court. Elizabeth Taylor is one example. She defended herself in litigation after she was contacted about a piece in her personal art collection in 2004. The 1889 work, a Van Gogh painting entitled View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint Remy, was sold at auction to the actress at Sotheby’s in London in 1963. Decades later, descendants of a Jewish woman named Margarete Mauthner claimed that the painting was rightfully theirs. They asserted that it had been sold by their ancestor under duress by Nazis. The Orkin family sought redress under the 1998 U.S. Holocaust Victims Act, but was barred from recovery due to the statute of limitations. The 9th Circuit upheld the lower court ruling that the Orkin family had missed their chance to claim ownership, and Elizabeth Taylor kept her painting in her L.A. residence.
Amiens, France. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collections, licensed via pingnews
Madonna’s Next Steps
Taylor’s unwillingness to relinquish ownership stands in contrast to the negotiations and settlement offers made by Versace and Andrew Llyod Webber’s Art Foundation. The potential for high-profile art buyers to avoid litigation and to instead reach amicable agreements presents a cooperative path forward and an overall more sustainable approach. These types of mediations, which may include the return of the work, give power and voice to claimants, without demonizing buyers who may have been unaware of the work’s problematic provenance. (This is particularly important in the case of celebrity buyers, who often work through intermediaries.) This ensures that justice is served, and that past traumas are recognized, while promoting the preservation and enjoyment of cultural heritage for generations to come.
The humanizing impact of high-profile celebrities who publicly acknowledge original ownership of a problematic work cannot be understated. When celebrities use their platform to give voice to people whose voices have been silenced, they set in motion healing work in the practicum of art and cultural heritage. What will Madonna do, moving forward? Perhaps she will be inspired to accept the loan offer and cooperate amicably with the City of Amiens.
After all, in the agreement put forth by Amiens, Madonna can still “keep her baby.”
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by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | May 31, 2022 |
Each May, the art world buzzes as art fairs hit New York City and the major auction houses host blockbuster international sales. After scaling back in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the art scene returned with gusto this spring. Even the Financial Times noted that New York’s 2022 auction season wrapped up “strongly,” after a series of record-breaking successes.
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (courtesy of Christie’s)
Christie’s made headlines during its Spring Marquee Week when Andy Warhol’s “iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe,” Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, sold to Larry Gagosian for a little over $195 million after just 4 minutes of bidding. This was the second-highest result for an artwork at auction, and the highest price ever paid for a work by an American artist. Notably, Gagosian had previously sold the work to Thomas Ammann in 1986, so the work is returning to its prior seller almost forty years later. (It is unclear whether Gagosian is keeping Marilyn for his own collection or whether he purchased it on behalf of a client.) Overall, the sale attracted bidders from 29 different countries and 68% of lots sold above their respective high estimates, demonstrating that collectors have not lost their appetite for contemporary art over the past two years. Works by six other artists, including Francesco Clemente and Ann Craven also sold for record prices while Cy Twombly and Robert Ryman occupied the top lots after Warhol. Christie’s Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art, Alex Rotter, commented that this was a “historic night” and “a testament to the strength, the vibrancy, and the overall excitement of the art market today.”
Sotheby’s spring sales also broke records, with the second half of the Macklowe Collection up for grabs. Achieving a total of $922 Million, the Macklowe Collection won the distinction of becoming the most valuable collection ever sold at auction. The group of 65 works, including exemplars by Rothko, Warhol, Giacometti, and de Kooning, was sold during two separate auctions in the fall and spring (the first on November 15, 2021, and the second on May 16, 2022), driving up interest. The collection was formed by Harry B. Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda over the many decades of their marriage. In 2018, amidst acrimonious divorce proceedings and widely varying appraisals over the collection’s actual value, a New York State Supreme Court judge ordered the couple to sell the artworks and split the profits equally. Although the auctions were delayed due to Covid-19, it was well worth the wait.
Finally, a third big auction house player made headlines for astronomical prices this spring. Phillips’ superstar was an untitled work by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The acrylic and spray paint on canvas from 1982 was estimated to sell for $70 million, but it surpassed expectations and brought in $85 million during an evening sale on May 18, 2022. The seller, Japanese mogul Yusaku Maezawa, had originally purchased the 16-foot-long work in 2016 for $57.3 million. Basquiat is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity among both established and younger art collectors, with another work selling for $40 million last November.
Artsy noted that the 20th-century and contemporary art auctions reflect a “shift in collector’s interests across the board with women artists, artists of color, and emerging artists receiving both critical interest and incredible financial interest.” The staggering results for some of these artists (often realizing much larger amounts their high estimates) may be the result of collectors seeking to purchase works by artists with potentially long and successful careers whose values may further increase. Several news sources noted that one of the stars in this field is Anna Weyant. The 27-year-old Canadian had her works sold at the three major auction houses (Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips) and high-profile galleries. Her work, “between sweet and sour, beautiful and foreboding” has surged in price and interest across the board.
We were pleased to represent a number of collectors consigning important works at auction this spring. One of our clients is the collecting family that consigned three works by David Hammons for the Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction on May 19. Sotheby’s touted these works and their provenance, after the paintings remaining with our clients for nearly five decades. All three of the works performed well, with two of them selling for above their high estimates. (The combined high estimate of the 3 works was $2.3 million, and they actually realized $2.6 million.)
It is always gratifying to work with clients and help them achieve the best outcomes for the sale of artwork. We look forward to a continued season of strong art market sales and new and exciting artists as summer approaches.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Apr 5, 2022 |
In our spring newsletter, Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is pleased to share some exciting developments that took place at the firm during the past winter.
LITIGATION UPDATES
The mural in Des Moines, Iowa shown in the Super Bowl commercial.
Chris “CAW” Williams, Maze, 2018
Amineddoleh and Associates LLC is representing Iowa-based muralist Chris Williams in a case against the Midwest grocery chain, Hy-Vee. Williams’ mural in downtown Des Moines, Iowa was featured in a 2019 Superbowl advertisement promoting Hy-Vee’s partnership with Oprah Winfrey’s O, That’s Good! Brand without the artist’s authorization. The case involves copyright law and VARA (the Visual Artists Rights Act), given the defendants’ unlicensed use of the image and lack of credit to Williams as the artist of the mural. The lawsuit seeks damages for the unlawful commercial use and appropriation use of Mr. Williams’ work. Read about the litigation in an article published by The Art Newspaper here and for more details, you can go to our website.
ART & IP NEWS
Cultural Heritage and Art in Ukraine
The world watched anxiously as tensions rose, and then erupted, between Russia and Ukraine in late February. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to the most tragic casualty, the widespread loss of human lives. As this horror unfolds, art world professionals are also concerned about the loss of art and heritage while the conflict rages. We published a blog post delving into the risks to art collections, museums, cultural sites, as well as other art and heritage in Ukraine posed by the conflict. It is available here. Several days later, we were disheartened to confirm that the conflict resulted in the destruction of 25 artworks by renowned Ukrainian artist, Maria Prymachenko, after a museum in Ivankiv burned down.
Restitution of Mexican Antiquities
Cultural heritage is also at risk across the Atlantic Ocean. We published a blog post discussing how Pre-Columbian/Pre-Hispanic objects are often looted or smuggled from Latin America due to their high resale value and sold abroad. Recently, however, Mexico has taken several steps to recover its cultural artifacts and enforce national patrimony laws. Read more about the restitution of Mexican antiquities and the role of international cooperation on our website.
Dealer with Ties to Looted Antiquities Detained in Paris
Leila Amineddoleh at the repatriation ceremony in 2020 in her role as the Egyptian cultural heritage law expert.
Roben Dib, a dealer suspected of supplying high-profile museums (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Abu Dhabi) with looted antiquities, was recently transferred to France to face charges of gang fraud and money laundering. Authorities believe that Dib acted through an intermediary (expert Christophe Kunicki) to engage in the large-scale trafficking of looted artifacts from Egypt and the Middle East. Previously, Kunicki had sold a looted golden sarcophagus to the Metropolitan museum for €3.5 million. A subsequent criminal investigation by Assistant District Attorney Col. Matthew Bogdanos exposed serious flaws in the museum’s provenance research, after which the museum issued an apology and formally repatriated the sarcophagus. Our founder served as the Egyptian cultural heritage law expert in this matter and attended the repatriation ceremony in 2020. You can read more about the sarcophagus’ journey here.
LAW FIRM UPDATES AND EVENTS
Art Law Conferences
In March, our firm’s founder, Leila Amineddoleh, served as a panelist at Notre Dame’s Journal of International and Comparative Law Symposium. At the symposium, “International and Comparative Approaches to Culture”, Leila discussed antiquities disputes and repatriation of cultural heritage.
At the end of March, Leila served as the keynote speaker at Yale University’s conference, “Dura-Europos: Past, Present, Future.” This event focused on the systematic looting of Dura-Europos that took place during the Syrian civil war. Specifically, Leila presented on the history of cultural heritage looting and modern efforts to prevent such plunder. Read more about this conference here.
Examples of Benin Bronzes, looted art from Africa at the center of repatriation discussions.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
Additionally, in January Leila participated in the webinar “Repatriation of African Artifacts: A Challenge for History and Property Rights,” hosted by African Liberty. The restitution of looted artifacts from Africa has formed part of an ongoing debate in several countries, particularly in Europe and the US (as former colonial powers). Leila discussed the recent focus on remedies for these issues, particularly the repatriation of the objects to their countries of origins and the grounds for doing so. We previously explored the subject of the Benin Bronzes in our ongoing Provenance Series, which you can access here.
Upcoming Conferences
This spring, we have additional conferences at which members of our firm will be speaking to look forward to.
Our associate, Claudia Quinones, will be presenting at a workshop organized by The European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group ‘The EU as a Global Actor’ (IG EUGLOBAL). The event will be hosted by the University of Glasgow and focuses on “International Law and Global Security: Regulating an Illusion?”. Specifically, Claudia will speak on ‘Cultural Protection as a Key Component of Global Security.’ Information about the event can be found here.
The Parthenon Marbles on display at the British Museum in London.
Photo Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Leila will also bring her expertise as a speaker to the 28th Annual Cultural Property Conference at Cardozo School of Law. As part of a panel on cultural property and international human rights trends, Leila will discuss the policies and polities of the Parthenon Marbles. Register and read more about this conference here, and learn more about the Parthenon Marbles on our website.
We look forward to both Leila’s and Claudia’s discussions at these upcoming events.
Art Law Publications
A number of recent cases have left some artists uneasy about the scope of the Fair Use Exception and the use of copyrighted materials in appropriation art. This has led to a shift in the landscape of copyright law. In fact, last month the U.S. Supreme agreed to hear arguments in the closely-watched case involving the Warhol Foundation. Leila commented on these shifts to the legal landscape in an article she wrote for the Institute of Art & Law titled “Fair Use in US Law: The Path to Marano v. Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Please contact us or the Institute of Art & Law for a copy of Leila’s informative article.
Associate Claudia Quinones was also published in the Santander Art and Culture Law Review (SAACLR). Her article, “On the Borderline – Using National and International Legal Frameworks to Address the Traffic of Pre-Columbian Antiquities between Mexico and the United States,” discusses historical and recent approaches to the illicit traffic of antiquities originating in Mexico. It further explores legal and non-legal remedies to curb this traffic. You can read her article on the SAACLR website.
CLIENTS AND REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Leader in the NFT Market
World’s first NFT vending machine
As discussed in our last newsletter, Amineddoleh and Associates has been one of the first law firms to work in the NFT space – both through our creation of the unique purchase and sale agreement for NFTs. Our clients include Monax, Nifty Gateway, private buyers and sellers, and corporations involved in investing in these assets. Our founder has also participated in a number of conferences focused on this topic, at locations including the University of Zurich, the Foundation for Art Law, and the New Museum in New York City.
As NFTs continue to dominate the art market, Leila had the opportunity to talk with the Associated Press about the world’s first NFT vending machine.
Music Spotlight
Art law encompasses any artistic expressions, including music. We have written a number of blog posts discussing the protection of musical instruments as well as the provenance of musical instruments and manuscripts. Given our passion for the subject, we are excited to announce that Amineddoleh and Associates is currently working on a number of music related matters.
The first matter involves valuable stolen classical music instruments which we are seeking to return to their rightful owner (our client).
In addition to working with a number of high-profile clients on their intellectual property portfolios, our firm is also representing Danish-born producer and songwriter Jonas Jeberg, known for writing and producing songs like Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes”, the Jonas Brothers’ “Rollercoaster,” Demi Lovato’s “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore,” and Selena Gomez’s “Fetish” ft. Gucci Mane, as well as many others. Amineddoleh and Associates is advising Jeberg on his trademark portfolio.
Upcoming Happenings
After our client’s successful sale of a work by David Hammons at Sotheby’s in March (a sale that realized a price greater than the projected estimate), our client has three additional works that will be up for auction at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale in May. We look forward to attending this auction as the art market continues its post-pandemic upswing.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Mar 22, 2021 |
A rarely seen painting by Vincent van Gogh will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in Paris later this week. It is an appropriate venue for the sale of the work that depicts the Moulin de la Galette, a historic windmill in the Montmartre district of Paris. The work had been held within a French family’s private collection for over a century, and it is expected to fetch close to $10 million. Before it reaches the auction block, the work has already traveled to Amsterdam and Hong Kong where it went on public display.
A perennial favorite of art lovers, Vincent van Gogh rose to great fame after his apparent suicide. His legacy was secured in large part thanks to the efforts of his sister-in-law Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger, wife to his brother Theo. After Vincent’s death, his property passed to his younger brother. In turn, his brother passed to his property, including Vincent’s paintings and his correspondences to his wife. With no income and a child to feed, Johanna demonstrated a shrewd eye and a natural adeptness for managing her brother-in-law’s legacy, serving as art dealer, and promoting and caring for the works. Rather than simply sell works for the highest price, she made strategic donations to exhibitions to enhance the painter’s fame. In addition, she transcribed a Van Gogh family history by compiling and editing the brother’s correspondences. The publication of the letters helped spread the Romantic reputation of Vincent van Gogh as an emotional and suffering painter. Johanna played an important role in the artist’s legacy.
Keeping pace with the artist’s rising popularity, the value of Vincent van Gogh’s art rose dramatically decades after his death. Sales of his works through auction have broken records numerous times in the 1980s and the 1990s. Lawsuits concerning his works have made the news for decades now. Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a man who sued Yale University as part of his bid to recover a $200 million van Gogh painting, The Night Café, from the institution. (The plaintiff alleged the painting was stolen from his family during the Russian Revolution; Yale has held the painting since 1961.) Only a few years earlier, the Supreme Court rejected another appeal seeking to divest actress Elizabeth Taylor of her van Gogh, View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy, on the basis that a previous owner was coerced to sell the painting while fleeing Nazi Germany. With the values of the artist’s works in the millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars, the stakes are high. Following these high-value ownership disputes, allegations of Nazi looting, and high-end forgery scandals, buyers are wise to complete due diligence prior to the acquisition of an artwork.
The painting for sale this month is recognized as one of van Gogh’s major works. The subject of the piece, the Moulin de la Galette, became popular during the 19th century for the brown bread it baked, which the windmill was later named after. As technology progressed to replace windmills, they became attractive tourist destinations for Parisians looking to enjoy a bucolic view amidst the urban landscape. The contrast between city and country clearly captured van Gogh’s attention, who began a series of works featuring the mill shortly after his arrival in Paris in 1887. Van Gogh was not the only artist inspired to capture its image; the windmill is featured in works by Pissarro, Utrillo, and in Renoir’s notable Bal du moulin de la Galette. Van Gogh’s rendition stands proudly among these works and has been featured in seven catalogues, although it has never been publicly exhibited—until now.
If you cannot make it to Paris, there are other ways to immerse yourself in van Gogh with the Van Gogh Experience in NYC this summer. This innovative exhibition uses 360º wall-sized projections to engage the viewer in van Gogh’s works from every angle. Similar versions of the exhibit can be found in many prominent cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago. For an immersive experience that can be enjoyed from the comfort of home, fans might look to Loving Vincent, a 2017 movie depicted entirely in van Gogh’s signature painterly style. For a more conventional viewing, fans can turn to At Eternity’s Gate, a 2018 film for which Willem Dafoe received an Academy nomination for best actor based on his performance as van Gogh. And for purists, van Gogh’s most famous work, Starry Night, remains on permeant display at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
Amineddoleh & Associates LLC has previously worked with a well-known international collector to assist in the authentication of a van Gogh work in his collection. Through this process, we have corresponded with the Van Gogh Museum, and collaborated with provenance investigators and forensic scientists. We continue working with experts to authenticate our clients’ collections or assist them with due diligence prior to a purchase.
