BREAKING: Detroit files for bankruptcy

"The largest American city ever to take such a course."

Hey, go big or go home

A whole museum full of fakes.

"The problem is that the art market isn’t allowed, by its practitioners, to be a real market, and instead operates on a series of conventions which make it deeply broken on many levels."

That's Felix Salmon, connecting venture capital "down rounds" to the art market.  Related thoughts from Mostafa Heddaya here.  I'm interested in the notion of a "real" market vs. one that "operates on a series of conventions."  What makes a market "real"?  How do we tell the pretend markets from the real ones?

"In Detroit, though, we run the risk of making smug assumptions about the nature of art and the public trust that won’t necessarily withstand scrutiny. "

Detroit News columnist Laura Berman wonders whether the city really needs a million-dollar Howdy Doody puppet.  (I'm quoted in the column.)

This has to do with the DIA in Detroit, where works are held in the public trust so it's repulsive to ever consider selling any of them, as opposed to Dia in New York, where works by Twombly, Chamberlain, and Newman are not held in the public trust and so can be freely disposed of.  It's all perfectly logical and consistent.

BREAKING: New Rosales Indictment

"The indictment depicts a complete circle of fraud perpetrated by Glafira Rosales - fake paintings sold on behalf of non-existent clients with money deposited in a hidden bank account."

Earlier indictment discussed here.

"It is a betrayal of trust toward the public to which the Foundation is beholden"

Dia's founders continue to violate the rules of deaccession debate.  Somebody forgot to tell them that it's only a violation of the public trust when a museum sells work and fails to use the proceeds to buy other work.  When the sales proceeds are used for acquisitions -- as they will be here -- then it's totally normal, it shouldn't be a touchy subject at all.

Or do you mean to tell me that even works that are sold to buy more work are held in the public trust?  No way!!

Or that the sale of those works might discourage future donations just as surely as sales where the proceeds are used for other things?  Get out of town!!

That's crazy talk!  I mean, it's perfectly obvious that works sold to buy other work are not held in the public trust, and works sold for other reasons are held in the public trust.

Isn't it?

"Artists and collectors will be reluctant to give works to Dia if this sale occurs."

Paul Winkler, former director of the Menil Collection and the brother of Dia co-founder Helen Winkler, is not happy with Dia's deaccession plans.

He breaks an important rule of never mentioning that sales to buy more art might also discourage future donations.  Under the by-laws of the Deaccession Police, we're only supposed to mention that when a museum (or university) considers selling work for another purpose.  Oh well.  Cat's out of the bag now.

On the general issue of the Dia sale:  can you imagine what the reaction would be like if they were not using the proceeds for acquisitions?  We'd need a new outrage meter.

"It’s a fairly lackluster group."

Bernie Madoff's art collection heads to auction.

"The city is past being a city now; it’s gone."

The NYT has a front-page story today on Detroit:  "Financial Crist Just a Symptom of Detroit's Woes."

And the Washington Post's Charles Lane has a related column.  He says the emergency manager's report "tells a harrowing story of institutional rot and social collapse."

Sadly, that may be the best argument of all against deaccessioning in this case:  sales of artwork won't make a lick of difference.  The city's too far gone.

"A key tax benefit for art owners in a same-sex marriage is that there will now be no federal estate tax due on the value of art passing to a spouse."

The Art Newspaper’s Martha Lufkin on the DOMA decision’s effect on art collectors, artists and dealers who are in same-sex marriages.  My partner John Silberman is quoted.

"Dreier Victim Acquires Fraudster’s Fancy Art Collection"

The WSJ Law Blog has the details.  No word yet on what's happening to the non-fancy art.

14.5% more in the public trust

The Met is now open seven days a week.

"Here’s a great example of fair use."

Says Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento.

"Not many possibilities for Detroit Institute of Arts to raise money outside of selling art"

Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press.

"I put to you that the argument regarding ethical restrictions on the use of funds from deaccessioning has taken exactly this lazy path of avoiding a deeper exploration of the issue."

A new member of my Museum Directors Hall of Fame.

Tell me again about the public trust (Dia edition)

Held in the public trust ... until they're not.

Also, Cariou's En Banc Request Was Denied (UPDATED)

The Art Newspaper's Julia Halperin has the story.  Background here.

UPDATE:  Felix Salmon isn't optimistic about the chances the Supreme Court will take the case.

BREAKING: First Department Affirms Jancou Dismissal (UPDATED)

The holding:  "In light of Noland's assertion and a report showing that the work had been damaged and restoration had been performed on it, Sotheby's did not breach the contract or its fiduciary duty to plaintiff by withdrawing the work from auction."  (No link yet.)  Background here.

UPDATE:  More from Art in America's Tracy Zwick.  And from Cristina del Rivero, who points out that my original post wasn't as clear as it could have been.  This is the claim against Sotheby's, not Noland.

Superseding Indictment in Ramnarine Case

"A foundry owner awaiting trial on charges he forged a Jasper Johns sculpture without the artist's authorization and attempted to sell it for $11 million was arraigned [last week] for allegedly executing a similar scheme involving the work of two other celebrated artists while he was out on bail."

Background here.

We're preparing the class action lawsuit right now

If the DIA's collection really is held in a charitable trust, as the Michigan AG claims, then who gave the museum permission to sell works over time, as they have, and use the proceeds to buy different art?

Shouldn't the "beneficiaries" of the trust sue for breach of fiduciary duty?

Related:  The Art Market Monitor interviewed by Now This News.