Law & Politics Cady Noland Said a Collector Restored Her Log Cabin Sculpture Beyond Recognition. A Judge Has Thrown Out Her Lawsuit—for the Third Time The judge doubles down on two previous rulings. By Eileen Kinsella, Jun 3, 2020
Law & Politics An Ex-Staffer Is Suing the Akron Art Museum and Its Former Director, Claiming She Was Fired for Complaining About the Work Environment The museum's director resigned in May following allegations from numerous staffers. By Taylor Dafoe, Jun 1, 2020
Law & Politics What Happens to My Health Insurance If My Gallery Furloughs Me? + Other Questions About Employment in the COVID Era, Answered by Lawyers Two art lawyers offer a primer on the difference between being furloughed and being fired as art-world employers cut staff. By Charles Danziger & Thomas Danziger, May 27, 2020
Law & Politics Steve Bannon’s School for Far-Right Populists Can’t Be Evicted From an 800-Year-Old Italian Monastery, a Court Rules The Italian Ministry of Culture plans to appeal the verdict, and is pushing for Bannon’s organization to be slapped with criminal charges. By Taylor Dafoe, May 27, 2020
Law & Politics Unionizing Philadelphia Museum of Art Staffers Are Trying to Leverage the Support of One of the US’s Biggest Labor Unions Similar efforts were successful at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Shed. By Eileen Kinsella, May 26, 2020
Law & Politics A Paint Roller Tore a $20 Million Hole in a Picasso Painting Headed to Christie’s. Now, the Insurance Company Is Suing the Contractor to Pay for It Casino mogul Steve Wynn had been planning to sell the work for upwards of $100 million at Christie's. By Sarah Cascone, May 26, 2020
Law & Politics Saudi Arabia Has Joined a Lawsuit Against Disgraced Dealer Inigo Philbrick, Claiming He Sold Them a Kusama Installation He Didn’t Own Who really owns the multimillion-dollar Yayoi Kusama 'Mirror Room'? By Eileen Kinsella, May 21, 2020
Law & Politics A Dingbat German Student Broke Into an Australian Natural History Museum to Take Selfies With Dinosaur Skeletons The man also stole an employee's cowboy hat, which he wore during his visit. By Taylor Dafoe, May 20, 2020
Law & Politics A Psychic Has Been Ordered to Pay the Costs of Exhuming Salvador Dalí’s Corpse for a Failed Paternity Test The uncanny story of Pilar Abel, who had claimed to be the artist's secret daughter, has taken another turn. By Naomi Rea, May 20, 2020
Law & Politics The Founders of Hobby Lobby Are Suing Christie’s for Selling Them an Ancient Artifact That Pretty Much Everyone Now Agrees Was Stolen The dispute centers on the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which was taken from Iraq sometime in the 2000s. By Eileen Kinsella, May 20, 2020
Law & Politics The Heir to the Bic Pen Fortune Is Suing His Estranged Baroness Wife to Get Back a Trove of Giacomettis and Other Blue-Chip Art Bruno Bich’s wife refuses to return more than 28 works from his family’s collection, his lawsuit alleges. By Tanner West, May 14, 2020
Law & Politics Creditors Are Chasing Bankrupt Auction House Paddle8’s Former CEO for Allegedly Mishandling Funds to the Tune of $1 Million Those who lost money say Valentine Uhovski is to blame. By Eileen Kinsella, May 12, 2020
Law & Politics It’s Not Just Businesses That Can Get Cash From the Government’s Coveted New ‘PPP’ Loans—It Turns Out Artists Can Too. Here’s How Artists who use payroll are eligible for the new emergency loans. By Eileen Kinsella, May 11, 2020
Law & Politics A Massive International Sting Operation Spanning 103 Countries Has Recovered Thousands of Stolen Artworks and Antiquities 101 suspects were arrested in the global operation. By Taylor Dafoe, May 7, 2020
Law & Politics Tech Kingpin Sean Parker Bought an Old Master Painting at Christie’s for Almost $6 Million. After That, Things Got Messy—Fast A federal judge must sign off on the final arbitration order that awards the work to Parker. By Eileen Kinsella, May 4, 2020
