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REMINDER: Art Crime and Cultural Heritage: Fakes, Forgeries, and Looted and Stolen Art at NYU June 4-6

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 27, 2015 at 5:41 AM

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)

Topics: University of Kansas, Megan Fontanella, Jordan Arnold, Klein & Solomon LLP, International Foundation for Art Research, Jo Backer Laird, Amy Adler, Sandra Cobden, Alfred Flechtheim, Betty Little, NYU School of Law, Shawnee State University, Guggenheim Museum, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Amr Al Azm, Christopher Robinson, Marla Diaz, ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, Judd Grossman, John Cahill, Alice Farren-Bradley, Inc., Boston University, Art Recovery Group, David Goldstein, Eleonora Nagy, Schiele, Jane C. H. Jacob, James Martin, Pryor Cashman LLP, Karl Geercken, Judith Pearson, Doreen Bolger, Kevin Ray, Museum of Modern Art, Peter Herdrich, Mel Urbach, ARIS, Chris Marinello, III, Pierre Ciric, Arader Galleries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, William L Charron, Christie's Inc., On the Shore of the Seine, Spencer Tomkins, W. Graham Arader, K2 Intelligence, MaryKate Cleary, Laurie Rush, Modern Sculpture Conservation LLC, Ciric Law Firm PLLC; Holocaust Art Restitution Pro, lston & Bird LLP, James Butterwick, Auctionata, Restitution, Colleen St Onge, Jonathan Illari, President’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Asian Art Research & Appraisals, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Events, Simon Hornby, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, Art Dealers Association of America Jane Levine, Jacob Fine Art, Wesley Fisher, Harry Ettlinger, Herrick Feinstein LLP, Baltimore Museum of Art, Portrait of Wally, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Nicholas O'Donnell, National Stolen Art File and Art Crime Team, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germa, Francis O'Connor, IFAR, Sotheby's, Bonhams, The Heritas Group, Ken Perenyi, Patricia J. Graham, Emily Kempin Professor of Law, Whitney Museum of American Art, Meridith Savona, Tim Carpenter, Vienna, Megan Noh, Butterwick Gallery LLC, Paysage Bords de Seine, Museum Security Network, Leopold Museum, Crozier Fine Arts Inc., Art Law Report, Mari-Claudia Jiménez, Sharon Flescher, Michael Danti, Holly Keris

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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