In the case of Steinkamp vs Hoffman, a collector in New York, Roderick Steinkamp sued Hoffman gallery for missing paperwork related to a Sol LeWitt drawing, Wall Drawing #448, on May 22,2012. The Suit, which seeks $350,000, claims that without the certificate of authenticity, the artwork is unsalable and thereby worthless (Cohen). Steinkamp owned Wall Drawing #448 via signed contract with the gallery in which the gallery agreed to be liable for all “loss, damage or deterioration” (Cohen). However, when the gallery claimed that they lost the certificate, their insurance company refused to pay for the document’s “mysterious disappearance,” which consequently lead to the lawsuit. “There appears to be no evidence of sales without such certificates, nor of sales of certificates alone” (Lydiate). In court, the greatest challenge to the art lawyer would then be to argue that a LeWitt certificate is a necessary component in evaluating the art market cost of the wall drawing it verifies as authentic. In other words, the lawyer must argue that the absence of a LeWitt certificate of authenticity will render the art piece it accompanied as …show more content…
If this is the case that the certificate of authenticity is the complete essence of Sol LeWitt’s work, then that means only one of his wall drawings can exist at a time as an authentic Sol Lewitt. Wall Drawing #448 was created for a private residence in 1985 in Massachusetts during LeWitt’s lifetime. However, because the certificate was sold to Steinkamp, the Wall Drawing made for the private residence would then arguably cease to be authentic. Only one authentic piece of Sol Lewitt can exist at a time, even if the “original” physical rendition of the wall drawing was made during Sol LeWitt’s life. However, this argument continues to be more
Doris Reed bought a house for $76,000.00 from Robert King. Mr. King and his real estate agent failed to disclose to Mrs. Reed that a murder had taken place in the home ten years ago. Neighbors told Mrs. Reed about the murders and the stigma associated with the house after she moved in. The property appraised in the amount of $65,000.00 with reference to the history of the house. Reed sued King on allegations of misrepresentation for the purchase of the home seeking rescission and damages to terminate the contact.
"The Disappointed Art Lover." writ. Francis Sparshott. The Forger's Art. gen. ed. Denis Dutton. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
In Gaut’s essay, “The Ethical Criticism of Art”, he addresses the relevance of an art piece’s ethical value when making an aesthetic evaluation. His key argument revolves around the attitudes that works of art manifest such that he presents the following summary “If a work manifests ethically reprehensible attitudes, it is to that extent aesthetically defective, and if a work manifests ethically commendable attitudes, it is to that extent aesthetically meritorious”. In direct contrast with formalists, who divine a work’s merit through an assessment of its style and compositional aspects, Gaut states that any art piece’s value requires a pro tanto judgement. This pro tanto position allows for pieces considered stylistic masterpieces, to be
Often, collectors rely on art dealers when deciding whether an art work is 'good or not'. They are not very knowledgeable about how valuable a specific art work is. Valuation of an art work is made by some criterias .How much are the similar art works worth? Are there any artworks that can be bought or is this the final chance to have a Picasso in your home? Does any museum show interest such as MoMA? Or was that artwork owned by Charles Saatchi? Is it going to be auctioned at Sotheby's? All answers of these such questions helps determining the value of an art work. The network of the actors of art worlds should be analyzed for example if we were to study the phenomenon of skyrocketed prices of art works. However, where Becker's approach is not enough is that he believes there are different art worlds. Becker states, 'Art worlds typically have intimate and extensive relations with the worlds from which they try to distinguish themselves.' Even though they share resources, exchange ideas and they are part of a larger social organization, not everything is shared and this is one of the main reasons that generates a curious economics phenomenon of the art markets. We should try to find a balance between researching every aspect of the complex cooperative network of art creation and limiting the research to a specific
The Midwestern contemporary art case study revolves around the current MCA board chair Peggy Fischer, and former board chair Peter Smith. Smith had been elected to the board after individuals recognized him and his wife for the immense art collecting accomplishments put forth on the couples behalf. Initially Smith was indebted to pay $10,000 to even be elected onto the board chair. Smith indeed paid an initial pledge of $10,000 and financially made amends to put forth $5 million additional dollars towards museum improvements. It is no deniable fact that Fischer had recognized Smiths admirable job running the museum. Smith worked his way up from being a member of the board to board chair. Smith and his wife were highly recognized by the community and aimed to stay out of the spotlight whenever possible.
Art for Art's Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness. The Art World, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102
In November 2004, Scott Peterson was found guilty and charged with two counts of murder for the death of his 8-month pregnant wife Laci Peterson, and prenatal son Conner Peterson. It was not until one month later, the jury had recommended Scott Peterson to be sentenced to death by lethal injection. Before his conviction, there was no substantial evidence submitted during the trial that linked Peterson directly to the death of his wife and their unborn child. In fact, the only physical evidence presented to the court was a single strand of Laci Peterson’s hair attached to a pair of Scott’s pliers. The evidence was deemed circumstantial on the basis that it did not deliberately constitute as the murder weapon. The pliers were not found alongside
Walter Benjamin emphasizes in his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility” that technology used to make an artwork has changed the way it was received, and its “aura”. Aura represents the originality and authenticity of a work of art that has not been reproduced. The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is an example of a work that has been and truly a beacon of art. It has brought a benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting, and it has an exemplary aura that cannot be replaced. A picture taken of the Sistine Chapel is just an imaged “captured”, while the painting is still original, because it is not movable, and its cult value is still intact. He asserts that the origin of an artwork gave its aura and authenticity and since it is not moveable, it does not have the ability to be reproduced by other artists. Therefore, the aura and authenticity is autocratic. For instance, the Sistine Chapel is owned and controlled by the Vatican—Catholic Cardinals. They control its usage to the masses. Once art becomes available to the masses, it becomes in a way ‘successful.’ In addition, he calls to attention that the forces of commercialization have subjected the aura of an artwork to cheapening cult value, which is a positive outcome for the masses.
age of twenty-five and is the only work he ever signed. This sculpture shows a
Recently the major countries that were part of WWII are starting to try and push for museums to send back the stolen art to their rightful owners. With the millions of pieces that were stolen during WWII the number of pieces that have not been returned to its heirs is well over 100,000 pieces of art and most of them are currently missing.("Nazi Plunder," n.d.) To help return stolen art, museums search through all of their art to check if any of it was stolen during WWII. Currently though the progress has stopped for returning stolen artwork back to its rightful heirs, because the museums are refusing to give back some of the more major pieces of art. Also the lack of knowing who the art truly belongs to is also slowing down the
In the late 1880s and 1890s, a trend of artists designing images for commercial use began generating public interest and criticism. Poster art, or designs produced by popular formerly ‘fine artists’ that advertised on streets instead of existing in galleries, emerged alongside the art nouveau movement. Suddenly, citizens and art enthusiasts alike began facing a dilemma: did this new poster art qualify as art? For many civilians, the answer to that question was no, and furthermore they concluded that producing such poster designs were a violation of artistic integrity. Aubrey Beardsley, an English artist already popular for non-commercial works, sought to defend his own poster art and justify art in advertising as a whole in a 1894 article entitled The Art of the Hoarding.
Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).
Unlike any other markets, the art market is extremely diverse and opaque. In most cases, buyers tend to hide themselves behind the curtains (especially during important auction events or art fairs), which make it hard to get access to the accurate information (art pieces ownerships, collection ownerships and price history). As a result, the more information you have from the inside market, the more chances you gain art bus...
When reading the Berenson article, one would find a major attention to detail of critically researching documents such as paying attention to concrete scientific analysis in authenticating signatures, contracts, etc. However, something that the reader may find “missing” was the same attention to detail in artistic approaches such as form, composition, brushstrokes, and texture—the opposite of the Morelli argument. Berenson uses more scientific methodology leads to a more critical understanding and aids in validation from more than one spectrum. Berenson shows the reader that this must be found in multiple sources, and no matter how significant one document or detail maybe, it alone cannot establish authenticity. Therefore, it is important to not ignore even the smallest or seemingly pointless detail, for that may be where the proof lies.
Stone, W. F. (1897). Questions on the philosophy of art;. London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons.