I am looking forward to next week’s Art Crime and Cultural Heritage symposium at NYU next month. I will be on a panel discussing the Gurlitt case moderated by Mel Urbach, along with Chris Marinello and Wesley Fisher. The program is as follows, and promises to be a fascinating event.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
9:00 a.m.−12:45 p.m.
Theft and Fraud
Opening Remarks
- Jane C.H. Jacob, President, Jacob Fine Art, Inc.; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
- Christopher A. Marinello, CEO & Founder, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
- Alice Farren-Bradley, Director of Claims & Recoveries, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference; Moderator, Museum Security Network
Keynote: The Theft and Return of Renoir's On the Shore of the Seine
- Doreen Bolger, Director, Baltimore Museum of Art; oversaw the return of the stolen Renoir painting Paysage bords de Seine to the museum's collection in 2014
- Marla Diaz, General Counsel, Baltimore Museum of Art; lead attorney in the negotiation for the return of Paysage bords de Seine to the Baltimore Museum of Art
Discussion: Networks and Freeports: How Stolen Property Can Circulate
- Sandra Cobden, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Christie's Inc.
- Daniel Brazier, Special Agent, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- Simon Hornby, President, Art Services, Crozier Fine Arts Inc.
- James McAndrew, Grundfeld Desiderio Lebowitz Silverman & Klestadt LLP
Panel: Non-Fine Art Issues: How Rigorously Are Works Checked Before Sale?
Moderator
- Jane Levine, Worldwide Director of Compliance, Sotheby's
Speakers
- W. Graham Arader, III, Founder & Owner, Arader Galleries; specializes in antique works on paper, paintings, and rare books
- Patricia J. Graham, Founder, Asian Art Research & Appraisals; Research Associate, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas; author, Japanese Design: Art, Aesthetics, & Culture
- Jonathan Illari, Vice President and General Counsel, Auctionata; former Counsel, Bonhams
2:00−5:30 p.m.
Theft and Fraud
Panel: Due Diligence and Professional Ethics in the Art Market
Moderator
- Christopher A. Marinello, CEO & Founder, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
Speakers
- Megan Fontanella, Associate Curator, Collections and Provenance, Guggenheim Museum
- Megan Noh, Assistant General Counsel, Bonhams; supports all U.S. specialist and business departments, with a particular emphasis on the day-to-day needs of the New York office, including claims, transactional and compliance work
Panel: Consignment Fraud: The New Theft?
Moderator
- Kevin Ray, Counsel, Art and Cultural Heritage Law, Business Reorganization & Financial Restructuring, Greenberg Traurig LLP
Speaker
- David Goldstein, Attorney, Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman PC; litigator in disputes over artworks, trade secret misappropriation, and copyright infringement; co-author of Creating an Equitable Balance Between the Rights of Former Owners and Good Faith Purchasers of Stolen Art
Closing Discussions and Possible Solutions
Moderator
- Christopher Robinson, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP; practices intellectual property and art law
Speakers
- Amy Adler, Emily Kempin Professor of Law, NYU School of Law
- Judith Pearson, President and Director, ARIS Title Insurance Corporation (ARIS)
- Jordan Arnold, Managing Director and Head of Art Risk Advisory at K2 Intelligence; former art crime prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office
6:30−8:30 p.m.
Reception
Sponsored by Arader Galleries
Friday, June 5, 2015
9:00 a.m.−12:45 p.m.
Looted Cultural Property
Opening Remarks
- Jane C.H. Jacob, President, Jacob Fine Art, Inc.; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
- Alice Farren-Bradley, Director of Claims & Recoveries, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference; Moderator, Museum Security Network
Keynote: The Monuments Men
- T/4 Sgt. Harry Ettlinger, served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program in World War II, better known as the Monuments Men; author of Ein Amerikaner: Anecdotes from the Life of Harry Ettlinger
Discussion: The Gurlitt Collection: Law vs. Ethics
Moderator
- Mel Urbach, Esq., Klein & Solomon, LLP, New York, NY; represents the heirs of Alfred Flechtheim and is a pioneer in art restitution; negotiated return of Kokoschka painting and other work
Speakers
- Christopher A. Marinello, CEO & Founder, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
- Wesley Fisher, Director of Research, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; Executive Director, Victim List Project of the Swiss Banks Settlement
- Nicholas O'Donnell, Litigation Partner, Sullivan & Worcester LLP; Editor, Art Law Report
Panel: The Plunder and Protection of Native American Culture
Moderator
- Tim Carpenter, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); involved in the largest restitution case of Native American artifacts in the United States, recovering 5,000 objects to date
Speakers
- Pierre Ciric, Founder, Ciric Law Firm PLLC; Co-Founder, Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP)
- Colleen Medicine, Cultural Repatriation Assistant, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, MI
2:00−5:30 p.m.
Looted Cultural Property
Discussion: Legal Obligations of Museums
Moderator
- Karl Geercken, Partner, Alston & Bird LLP; counsel for Leopold Museum, Vienna, in the Schiele Portrait of Walley case
Speakers
- MaryKate Cleary, Collections Specialist, Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art
- Holly Keris, Chief Curator, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Panel: Cultural Heritage Destruction and the Illicit Trade
Moderator
- Peter Herdrich, Founding Partner, The Heritas Group; formerly CEO, Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)
Speakers
- Amr Al Azm, Associate Professor, Middle East History and Anthropology, Shawnee State University; former Director, Scientific and Conservation Laboratories, General Department of Antiquities and Museums, Syria
- Edouard Planche, Programme Specialist, Cultural Heritage Protection Treaties Section, UNESCO
Closing Discussions and Possible Solutions
Moderator
- Alice Farren-Bradley, Director of Claims & Recoveries, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference; Moderator, Museum Security Network
Speakers
- Laurie Rush, Army Archaeologist, Fort Drum, NY; Board Member, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield
- Michael Danti, Assistant Professor of Archaeology, Boston University; Co-Director, ASOR Syrian Heritage Initiative
- Mari-Claudia Jiménez, Partner, Herrick Feinstein LLP; partner in the Art Law practice group
6:30−8:30 p.m.
Reception
Sponsored by Bonhams
Saturday, June 6, 2015
9:00 a.m.−12:45 p.m.
Fakes and Forgeries
Opening Remarks
- Jane C.H. Jacob, President, Jacob Fine Art, Inc.; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
- Christopher A. Marinello, CEO & Founder, Art Recovery Group Ltd; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
Keynote: Problems in the Russian Art Market
- James Butterwick, Founder & Owner, Butterwick Gallery LLC; specializes in Russian avant-garde
Keynote: Art Crime Scene: Forger Talks about Forgery
- Ken Perenyi, Renowned art forger whose works have passed through major auction houses and galleries in New York and London as original works; author of Caveat Emptor
Panel: Expert Immunity
Moderator
- John Cahill, Attorney, Cahill Partners LLP; formerly General Counsel, Phillips de Pury & Co.; Chair, New York City Bar Association, Art Law Committee
Speakers
- Sharon Flescher, Executive Director, International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR); Editor-in-Chief, IFAR Journal
- Betty Little, New York State Senator, 45th District; sponsor of amendment to the New York Arts & Cultural Affairs Law enhancing protections for art authenticators
- Steven R. Schindler, Founder and Partner, Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP; Art Business faculty, Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York
2:00−5:30 p.m.
Fakes and Forgeries
Discussion: Challenges to Cases in which Experts Present False Testimony
Speakers
- James Martin, Principal, Orion Analytical LLC, a materials analysis and consulting firm specializing in art, cultural property, and collectables
- Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, Program Manager, Art Theft Program (National Stolen Art File and Art Crime Team), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Panel: Protecting Jackson Pollock
Moderator
- Judd Grossman, Founder and Managing Partner, Grossman LLP
Speakers
- Francis O'Connor, Jackson Pollock scholar and lead author of Jackson Pollock's catalogue raisonné
- Meridith Savona, Special Agent, Art Theft Program (National Stolen Art File and Art Crime Team), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Closing Discussions and Possible Solutions
Moderator
- Jane C.H. Jacob, President, Jacob Fine Art, Inc.; Co-Founder, Art Crime Conference
Speakers
- Eleonora Nagy, Conservator, Modern and Contemporary Sculpture; Director, Modern Sculpture Conservation LLC, New York; Conservator, three-dimensional works of art, Whitney Museum of American Art; Advisory Committee for Conservation and Restoration (ACCR) and Judd Foundation
- Spencer Tomkins, President, Spencer Tomkins Fine Art Inc.; art consultant with over 25 years of experience in the international art market working with private and corporate collectors; specializes in American and European post-war and contemporary art
- William L Charron, Partner and Co-Chair of Art Law Practice, Pryor Cashman LLP; Counsel, ARIS Title Insurance Corporation (ARIS)
