Law & Politics The Cleveland Museum of Art Is Suing the Manhattan D.A. Over the Seizure of a $20 Million Statue Allegedly Looted From Turkey The museum is asserting it is the rightful owner of the sculpture. By Adam Schrader, Oct 20, 2023
Law & Politics Established New York Dealer Revealed as Antiquities Trafficker in Ongoing U.S. Probe to Identify and Return Stolen Cultural Artifacts Prosecutors lay out the trail of dozens of works stolen from Greece, Italy, and Turkey. By Eileen Kinsella, Oct 17, 2023
Law & Politics A French Court Has Sentenced Artist-Provocateur Pyotr Pavlensky to Prison for Leaking Private Footage of a Paris Mayoral Candidate Benjamin Griveaux ended his mayoral campaign after footage of him appeared on the Russian artist’s website in 2020. By Taylor Dafoe, Oct 13, 2023
Law & Politics A Storage Facility Sold Off a $39,000 Antique Writing Desk and Other Heirlooms After an Elderly New Yorker Forgot to Pay the Bill Samurai armor, Persian rugs, and over 1,000 books were among his belongings. By Adam Schrader, Oct 12, 2023
Law & Politics Documents Shed New Light on Leon Black’s Eight-Figure Art Deals—And How Jeffrey Epstein Helped Him Avoid Taxes A representative for Black insists the deals were "legal and appropriate." By Eileen Kinsella, Oct 10, 2023
Law & Politics The U.K. Is Rolling Out a New ‘Retain and Explain’ Policy Regarding Its Controversial Public Statues British artist Hew Locke, whose past work has engaged with controversial public statues, weighed in on the new guidelines. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Oct 10, 2023
Law & Politics French Prosecutors Ask a Paris Court to Send Art Tycoon Guy Wildenstein to Prison and Pay Hundreds of Millions in Fines The art dealer is accused of money laundering and tax evasion on a colossal scale. By Rachel Corbett, Oct 4, 2023
Law & Politics Will Banksy’s Identity Finally Be Unmasked in a Defamation Lawsuit Brought by a U.K. Greeting Card Company? The company's claim is the latest volley in a long-running trademark dispute with the anonymous artist. By Adam Schrader, Oct 3, 2023
Law & Politics An Elderly Couple Sold a ‘Worthless’ African Mask for $157. Now They Are Suing the Buyer Who Auctioned It for $4.4 Million The couple has accused a local antiques dealer of cheating them out of a fair price for the rare object. By Adam Schrader, Oct 3, 2023
Law & Politics The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco Is Suing the Architects Behind Its Major Expansion, Alleging Work of ‘Inadequate Quality’ The museum claims the pavilion required costly repairs before it could even open. By Sarah Cascone, Oct 2, 2023
Law & Politics Another A.I.-Generated Artwork Was Denied Copyright Protection, Adding a New Knot to the Complexities of Creative Ownership This is but the latest blow to A.I. artists claiming copyright for their creations. By Adam Schrader, Sep 26, 2023
Law & Politics NFT Artist Scores Big Win in Multimillion Dollar Contract Dispute Over a Blank Space The plaintiff's contract with artist Coolman Coffeedan contained a "fatal" error, the court said. By Eileen Kinsella, Sep 22, 2023
Law & Politics Seven Nazi-Looted Egon Schiele Artworks Have Been Returned to the Heirs of a Jewish Collector in a Precedent-Setting Move The Schiele pieces were handed over today in an event organized by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. By Taylor Dafoe, Sep 20, 2023
Law & Politics The Louvre Has Redoubled Its Efforts to Be Named a Civil Party in the International Antiquities Trafficking Case Against Its Former Director The museum wants to enter a legal gray area wherein it is declared partly a victim, which may help absolve its tarnished reputation. By Devorah Lauter, Sep 20, 2023
Law & Politics A Court Has Ordered an Artist to Repay a Danish Museum $72,000 for Submitting Two Empty Frames for a Commission Jens Haaning claimed that the empty frames were a new "conceptual" artwork protesting poor pay. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Sep 19, 2023
