Crypto Art Business
Free Comb with Pagoda, 1986, is a mixed-media work on paper signed with Jean-Michel Basquiat’s oft-used pseudonym Lenny at the lower right. Bought in 2015 by a private buyer, the physical work togethe… Continue Reading Crypto Art Business
Private Parties
Is there legal validity in ‘the well-known custom and practice in the art world that the identity of a private buyer or owner of a painting is not revealed’? A recent trial held at London’s High Court… Continue Reading Private Parties
Flower Thrower Law Report
Banksy’s guarding of his personal identity suffered a set-back on 14 September 2020, when the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) cancelled Banksy’s 2014 registration as an EU trade mark of the re… Continue Reading Flower Thrower Law Report
Christo & Jeanne-Claude
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff died on 31 May 2020 in New York City, a decade after his spouse Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon also died there: they were astrological twins (both born on 13 June 1935)… Continue Reading Christo & Jeanne-Claude
Things Have Changed
Covid-19’s devastating impact on the visual art world has required lockdown of artists at home; closure of art schools, galleries, museums, art fairs and auction rooms; and, in common with most of the… Continue Reading Things Have Changed
Tattoo You
‘Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ’ is an old music business saying, which perhaps applies to legal responses in recent times to the rise in popularity of body art, tattooing in particular. In March… Continue Reading Tattoo You
Being An Artist’s Lawyer
In April 2020 a unique event will take place in Los Angeles at Southwestern Law School’s Donald E Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute. As part of the Institute’s programme of Continuing Le… Continue Reading Being An Artist’s Lawyer
Legal Drivers
Banksy began his practice as a freehand street graffiti artist, subsequently using stencils to facilitate the swifter execution of work – and thus avoidance of detection and arrest for criminal damage… Continue Reading Legal Drivers
Collecting Performance Art
A unique art fair exclusively showcasing performance art was held for 72 hours in September 2019 during the Brussels Gallery Weekend. Organised and curated by A Performance Affair (APA), a recently es… Continue Reading Collecting Performance Art
Ownership
When is a ‘work’ completed? Is it when the artist releases it for public viewing, and/or only if released for sale? What is the status of a work an artist (or a deceased artist’s estate) disowns after… Continue Reading Ownership