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Finance, Art and Law—How Does Fine Art Shape Up as an Asset?

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on January 30, 2015 at 8:48 AM

The Art Law Foundation in Geneva (Fondation pour le droit de l’art), together with the Banking Law Centre at the University of Geneva, hosted a sterling event on Monday in Geneva. This was the second part in a series spearheaded by the Foundation, the first day was held in London in November. While I was not able to attend the London event, it was very well received, and together with this week’s event it must be said that the organization is up to great things. Their events page (here) is something anyone interested should book mark. In particular, these events have showcased sophisticated insights into market-based aspects of art and law, which whether we like it or not is what is driving the discussion (and will continue to). A real hats off to the organizers, in particular Attorneys Sandrine Giroud of Lalive, and Pierre Gabus of Gabus Avocats, a director and president, respectively, of the Foundation.

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Topics: China, Pierre Gabus, Art Finance, Sotheby’s Financial Services, Fremdverwaltung, leverage, Xavier Oberson, Alexandre Quiquerez, Philip Hoffman, Frédéric Dawance, Art Business and Research Unit at Sotheby’s Instit, authenticity, Art Law Foundation, Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act, The Art Newspaper, Geneva, artgenève, Fine Arts Expert Institute, Manuela de Kerchove, Sandrine Giroud, Lalive, Supervised Qualified Investors, Natural Le Coultre, Yan Walther, feeder funds, Jan Prasens, Abel Avocats, Farrer & Co LLP, Lombard Odier, Events, Tutela Capital, James Carleton, Sotheby's, U.C.C., Yves Bouvier, Schroders, Fabian Bocart, Fine Art Fund Group, Art Finance And Law Conference Series

Reminder: “Art Finance and Law” in Geneva Monday January 26, 2015

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on January 8, 2015 at 7:14 AM

A reminder of this month’s marquee event in Geneva, the second in a two part series “Art Finance and Law” organized by the Art Law Foundation at the University of Geneva (the first, in London last November, is recapped here). My ticket is booked, so I hope to see you there. If you’ll be in attendance, drop me a line so we can connect either at the conference or in Genveva. Bon voyage!

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Topics: Pierre Gabus, William Pearlstein, Prof. Xavier Oberson, Université Lyon, Art Finance, Sotheby’s Financial Services, Alexandre Quiquerez, Philip Hoffman, Myret Zaki, Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance, Frédéric Dawance, Tim Hunter, Art Business and Research Unit at Sotheby’s Instit, Art Law Foundation, London, Melanie Gerlis, David Arendt, The Art Newspaper, Geneva, The Fine Art Fund, Fine Arts Expert Institute, Philipp Fischer, Oblyon Art Business Intelligence, Manuela de Kerchove, Banque Lombard Odier & Cie SA, Luc Thévenoz, Sandrine Giroud, Lalive, Natural Le Coultre, Yan Walther, Jan Prasens, Farrer & Co LLP, Paul Aitken, Marco Mercanti, Falcon Fine Art, Events, Sebastian Fahey, Stefanie Berloffa-Spadafora, Rebecca Hawkins, Bilan, Tutela Capital, Private Art Investor, Abels Avocats, James Carleton, Sotheby's, borro, Li Jun Xian, Université de Genève, Yves Bouvier, Schroders, The Luxembourg Freeport, Fabian Bocart, Fine Art Fund Group, Art Finance And Law Conference Series

First Ripples in Greece from Parthenon Marble Loan to Russia

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on January 8, 2015 at 6:10 AM

Last month it was revealed that the British Museum had loaned a sculpture from the Parthenon, a/k/a Elgin, Marbles to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Reaction ranged from puzzlement to fury. Lee Rosenbaum pondered whether the loan was in fact a trial balloon to prepare for litigation, specifically, to rebut Greece’s claim that the sculptures are a single unified work that should be returned with an argument that the collection of individual objects is more complicated. My reaction really boiled down to the “law” of unintended consequences: once the UK put any of the objects outside its territorial control—let alone in Russia, which has shown little interest in the niceties of international loans and restitution—the British Museum may find itself in a Portrait of Wally situation. 

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Topics: cultural property, Defining Beauty: the Body in ancient Greek Art, Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, The Art Newspaper, Lee Rosenbaum, Elgin Marbles, Parthenon Marbles, Restitution, British Museum, Events, State Hermitage Museum, Portrait of Wally, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Litigation

Art Finance and Investment, London Recap and January 26, 2015 Geneva Preview

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on December 15, 2014 at 10:27 AM

Last month we posted word of an exciting two-part series hosted by The Art Law Foundation. The first session of “Art Finance and Law” took place on November 26, 2014 in London. The Thanksgiving holiday kept me from attending, but a thorough recap has been written by Rebecca Hawkins at Private Art Investor of the day’s conference, entitled “Risk, Rules and Opportunities in Art Investment.” Hawkins writes, “The key themes that reoccurred throughout the day’s discussions were those of regulation and reputation.” To put it another way, the conference seems to have focused on the timely issues of where art fits into financial planning and secured finance as an asset class, and on a discussion on the proper role of regulation (there being a decided lack of it, compared to other asset classes in the same order of magnitude). The conference also made the presentations themselves available, here. The recap reminded me that I wished I had been able to attend.

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Topics: William Pearlstein, Art Finance, Sotheby’s Financial Services, Philip Hoffman, Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance, Tim Hunter, Art Business and Research Unit at Sotheby’s Instit, Art Law Foundation, London, Melanie Gerlis, David Arendt, The Art Newspaper, Geneva, Oblyon Art Business Intelligence, Lalive, Paul Aitken, Marco Mercanti, Falcon Fine Art, Events, Sebastian Fahey, Stefanie Berloffa-Spadafora, Rebecca Hawkins, Anna Dempster, Bilan, Private Art Investor, Sotheby's, borro, Li Jun Xian, The Luxembourg Freeport, Fine Art Fund Group, Art Finance And Law Conference Series

Art Finance And Law Conference Series in London and Geneva

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on November 11, 2014 at 6:32 AM

A terrific pair of events organized by the Art Law Foundation in Geneva has been accounced. As the Foundation describes it:

The aim of the series is to examine the growing practice of art investments, and the use of art as an investment asset. Various top speakers from academia and practice will explore securitisation of art as an asset, the differences between art funds and hedge funds, the peculiarities of the portfolio and fund management, the different types of loans against art collateral, and the risks and rules for art investments.

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Topics: William Pearlstein, Art Finance, Sotheby’s Financial Services, Philip Hoffman, Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance, Tim Hunter, Art Business and Research Unit at Sotheby’s Instit, Art Law Foundation, London, Melanie Gerlis, David Arendt, The Art Newspaper, Geneva, Oblyon Art Business Intelligence, Paul Aitken, Marco Mercanti, Falcon Fine Art, Events, Sebastian Fahey, Stefanie Berloffa-Spadafora, Anna Dempster, borro, Li Jun Xian, The Luxembourg Freeport, Fine Art Fund Group, Art Finance And Law Conference Series

Legislative Update: HR 4103, the “American Royalties Too Act” to be Considered Next Week, Gains Sponsors

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on July 17, 2014 at 6:43 AM

On February 26, 2014, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the “American Royalties Too Act”—House Resolution 4103. HR 4103 was referred to the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet on March 20, 2014. There was also an “American Royalties Too Act” introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on the same day.

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Topics: Legislation, Resale Royalties, Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), Maxine Waters (D-CA), American Royalties Too Act, Chuck Close, Christopher Rauschenberg, droite de suite, Commerce Clause, Julia Halperin, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), The Art Newspaper, U.S. Senate, Judy Chu (D-CA), HR4103, Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY), Christie's, Ed Pastor(D-AZ), Huffington Post, Intellectual Property and the Internet, Eliot L. Engel([D-NY), Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Pocan (D-WI), Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL), James Moran (D-VA), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Copyright, Sotheby's, John Lewis (D-GA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), House Subcommittee on Courts, Donna M. Christensen, eBay, Sam Farr (D-CA)

Augsburg Prosecutor Rejects Idea of Making Deal with Gurlitt, Harvard and LACMA Beckmann Paintings Highlight Difficulty Ahead Without Agreement

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on February 5, 2014 at 7:14 AM

Just days after attorneys for Cornelius Gurlitt floated the idea of discussions with survivors and heirs for a possible resolution to the questions about the artworks found in his apartment two years ago that are suspected of having been stolen or sold under duress during the Nazi era (and after the prosecutor was ordered to make a full list available to journalists), the prosecutor in charge of the investigation categorically rejected the possibility of any deal with Gurlitt.

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Topics: Erhard Göpel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, FAZ, Focus, Hildebrand Gurlitt, Cornelius Gurlitt, Augsburg, Amsterdam, Willi Korte, Schwabinger Kunstfund. Kunstfund München, Marvin Fishman, Reinhard Nemetz, Gurlitt Task Force, Germany, Fall Gurlitt, The Art Newspaper, Gurlitt Collection, Max Beckmann, Karl Buchholz, Robert Looker, Entartete Kunst, Bar Braun, Beutekunst, Schwabing, Magdeburg, LACMA, Ersessene Kunst, Harvard, Gurlitt, Bavaria, Busch-Reisinger, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, degenerate art, the Central Collecting Point, Augsburger Staatsanwalt, www.lostart.de, Nazi art, Sotheby's, Roman Norbert Ketterer, Raubkunst, Verjährung, Mayen Beckmann, National Gallery Berlin, verschollene Kunst, De-Nazification, Selbstbildnis, Self Portrait

Gurlitt Attorney Speaks of Discussions with Heirs and “Fair and Equitable Solution,” Challenges Earlier Quote Despite Video of Interview

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on January 30, 2014 at 4:44 AM

One of Cornelius Gurlitt’s attorneys, Hannes Hartung, told the Wall Street Journal last week, and was again quoted in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung yesterday, that Gurlitt was open to possible resolutions to claims from heirs to the paintings found in his apartment in 2012. According to Hartung, Gurlitt is already in talks with heirs, and wants a “fair and equitable solution.”

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Topics: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ich geb' nichts freiwillig zurück, FAZ, veschollene Kunst, Focus, Hannes Hartung, Cornelius Gurlitt, Schwabinger Kunstfund. Kunstfund München, Fall Gurlitt, The Art Newspaper, Gurlitt Collection, Max Beckmann, Hildebrand Gurlit, Entartete Kunst, Bar Braun, Özlem Gezer, Beutekunst, LACMA, Gurlitt, David D’Arcy, Der Spiegel, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, degenerate art, Raubkunst

Russia Threatens Lawsuit Against U.S. Library of Congress in Further Retaliation for Chabad Sanctions Order

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on February 12, 2013 at 8:44 AM

In a story that gets more unusual with every new development, the Russian Foreign Ministry has reportedly recommended filing a lawsuit, in Russia, against the United States Library of Congress in response to last month’s contempt sanctions order by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia arising out of Russia’s refusal to obey a judgment to return the Chabad Lubavitch library of Menachem Schneerson.

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Topics: Russian Times, Russian Foreign Ministry, sanctions, The Art Newspaper, Library of Congress, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Litigation, Immunity from Seizure Act, Chabad, Sergey Lavrov

Portrait of Wally in Hindsight: What did it Really Change?

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on April 25, 2012 at 1:53 PM

A new piece at the Art Newspaper reflects on the importance of the Portrait of Wally case. Wally was seized in 1998 by customs officials on the theory that it was stolen property when imported into the U.S. The painting sat in a warehouse for 12 years, until a settlement returned the painting to Vienna in 2010 and a payment to Lea Bondi's heirs was made. I recall well the citywide celebrations in the Austrian capital when the painting returned; banners on lampposts proclaimed Bildnis Wally kehrt zurück—Portrait of Wally returns!

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Topics: Maria Altmann, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, The Art Newspaper, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, FSIA, Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, IFSA, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Portrait of Wally, S.B. 2212, Immunity from Seizure Act, Customs, Gustav Klimt, Vienna

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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