Our Work

Our practice is focused on complex art litigation and dispute resolution, and a broad range of corporate and commercial art law matters.

 

Art Restitution

Our attorneys have successfully recovered artworks on behalf of the heirs of Holocaust victims, the heirs of famous artists and other claimants, including:

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  • Several works by 20th century Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, from the City of Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art and the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University, on behalf of Malevich's heirs.

  • Hundreds of artworks looted from the renowned Dutch art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker, during the Second World War. The works had been held by the Dutch Government for over 50 years.

  • Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally, in a very favorable settlement in United States v. Portrait of Wally, one of the first cases to focus the world's attention on the problem of Nazi-looted art. We achieved a settlement for the heirs of Jewish art dealer Lea Bondi Jaray, which included $19 million in compensation for Portrait of Wally, and permanent signage acknowledging its true provenance in Vienna's Leopold Museum.

Cultural Property Disputes

Our attorneys are recognized throughout the world as leaders in the art recovery area and have represented foreign governments to recover antiquities and cultural property, including:

 

  • The fabled "Lydian Hoard" of ancient silver artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for the Republic of Turkey.

  • The "Elmali Hoard" of extremely rare ancient silver coins from a major collector, also for the Republic of Turkey.

  • A statue of the goddess Cybele also for the Republic of Turkey.

  • A thousand-year-old Mayan artifact for the Republic of Guatemala.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Our art litigation practice is broad-based, ranging from basic contract disputes to complex domestic and international actions. We handle a variety of cases dealing with trademark and copyright infringement, defamation, moral and visual rights, breach of warranty, misattribution, valuations, appraisals, experts, auctions and other issues.

 

Commercial Art Practice

Our attorneys regularly counsel museums, art galleries, auction houses, dealers, artists, collectors and owners (both private and corporate, including estates, trusts, banks and financial institutions) and other clients on a variety of art-related issues, including contract, copyright, VARA, financing, authentication, insurance, title, attribution, trusts, and tax and estate planning questions, among others.

We represent clients in all types of art transactions, including the purchase, consignment, sale and auction of major works of art, domestic and international loans of significant objects of art and art collections, organizing and implementing major museum and private exhibitions, organizing and structuring business entities, preparing contracts involving emerging technologies and a variety of other activities. We also advise clients on criminal matters and international trade issues, including treaty questions and export, import and customs matters.

Our experience in art restitution enables us to help clients navigate through the problems inherent in acquisitions and sales of artwork with uncertain provenance.

While we handle public and private transactions of all sizes, our attorneys have worked on some of the art industry’s largest transactions:

 

  • Represented Neue Galerie New York in its historic acquisition of Gustav Klimt’s painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, also known as The Woman in Gold. At the time it was reported to be the most valuable painting ever sold.

  • Represented The European Fine Arts Foundation (TEFAF) in the creation of TEFAF’s New York Fall 2016 Art Fair.

  • Represented the heirs of noted Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich in numerous auction sales over the course of 15 years, including the $60 million sale of Suprematist Composition (1916), which set a world record for Russian art.

  • Represented the Estate of Frances Lasker Brody in the historic sale of its art collection at Christie’s in 2010. The highlight of the sale was a Picasso masterwork, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which sold for a then auction record $106.5 million.

  • Represented a private art collector in one of the largest transfers of Mesoamerican art to a museum, including the assumption of the operations of the collector’s foundation dedicated to the study and advancement of Mesoamerican art.

  • Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of an internationally recognized art gallery concerning the authenticity of certain paintings bought and sold by the gallery.