Wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 square metres of material has begun, fulfilling a 60-year dream of late artists ‘Christo’. The iconic duo, Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935-2009), passed away before their major installation was unfurled in the heart of Paris.
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A New York Federal Judge has decided that a marble figure which is owned by hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt and which has spent decades on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will not be returned to Turkey. The Turkish government sued for the return of the figure in 2017 however, according to Judge Alison J. Nathan, there is “insufficient evidence” to support Turkey’s claim that it should be returned.
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‘Big John’, the largest triceratops skeleton ever discovered, is coming to auction at Paris auction house Binoche et Giquello next month. The 66-million-year-old fossil is estimated to sell for a staggering €1.2 million to €1.5 million (£1 million to £1.5 million).
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The Bank of England, which has its own museum, will no longer display eight oil paintings and two busts connected to the slave trade. Earlier this year, the bank set up a working group to critically review the 40,000 artworks in its collection.
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A portrait of the German-Jewish theatre critic and essayist Alfred Kerr (1867-1948) by Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) has been the subject of a recent Nazi-loot claim. The claim, which seeks to restitute the painting currently held at Berlin’s Stadtmuseum, has been rejected by Germany’s Advisory Commission for Nazi-looted art, who have announced it should remain in the museum’s collection.
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The high-profile Portuguese art collector and businessman Joe Berardo, 76, has been detained by police over fraud and money laundering allegations. Berardo’s 900 strong art collection includes works by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Francis Bacon (1909-1992) and Nan Goldin.
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Are judges and juries best placed to decide the outcome of an art law dispute? Art market professionals do not seem to think so. Fortunately for them, from 7 June 2018, they will no longer have to worry about entrusting difficult questions regarding the authenticity of an artwork to a court of law. A new Court of Arbitration for Art (CAA) is being launched to resolve art law disputes around the globe.
Billionaire art collector Roman Abramovich was probably hoping the proposed changes to taxation law affecting UK “non-doms” were an April Fool’s joke. Yet the rules, which are expected to hit prominent UK art collectors who reside abroad for tax purposes, are all too real. Originally due to come into effect on 6 April this year, the reforms have now been delayed because of the upcoming election, but remain in the pipeline.
Under the proposed laws, “non-doms” who have been resident in the UK for at least 15 of the past 20 years but have a permanent home abroad would be considered UK domiciled for tax purposes. The changes would mean that non-doms such as Abramovich could be liable to pay tax on any art they sell even if it is held outside the UK. Continue reading
A New York City graffiti artist collective is threatening to sue McDonald’s for unauthorised use of their work in a Dutch advertising campaign.
Images of street art by the Bushwick Collective appeared in a video entitled “McDonald’s Presents the Vibe of Bushwick NY” promoting the fast food mega-chain’s latest addition to its menu, the ‘New York Bagel Supreme’. The four-minute video features six graffiti artists from the Collective hired by McDonald’s to paint its new bagel burger in various locations around the Netherlands. Continue reading
On Monday 19 September 2016, Boodle Hatfield LLP was delighted to host a seminar presenting the Law Commission’s recommendations on reforming the law of loans secured on personal goods.
The Law Commission highlighted the Bills of Sale Act 1878 and the Bills of Sale Amendment Act 1882 as being archaic Victorian statutes which are wholly unsuited for modern credit arrangements. The calls for reform have stemmed from the logbook loan sector which uses Bills of Sales to secure loans and where sharp practices have been deemed disproportionate and unfair on borrowers. The proposed reforms will not only regulate the logbook loan market but will also have knock on effects on the more exclusive art and luxury asset lending sector. Continue reading
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