The Spring issue of ARCA's Journal of Art Crime is out. My contribution this time is on Stephen Spielberg's stolen Norman Rockwell. An excerpt:
"Remarkably, however, it emerged during the course of the litigation that not only should Solomon have known about the 1988 auction, he actually did know all about it. FBI documentation produced in the lawsuit showed that agents spoke with Solomon about the work and were told that (1) Solomon and his insurer contacted the auction house prior to the sale and (2) they entered into a 'settlement agreement' under which the auction house would get 10% of the sales proceeds, the insurer would get back the $20,000 it had paid to Solomon on his claim back in 1973, and Solomon and the current consignors of the painting would split the remaining proceeds 50-50. Solomon denied having entered into such arrangement, but the Court found his denials 'not credible.'"
