A report by an expert witness designated by the City of Detroit for the upcoming bankruptcy trial has been released concerning the value of the full collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The report puts the full collection value at $2.7 to $4.6 billion, but estimates that the price it would fetch if the collection were actually liquidated in the real world would be closer to $1.1 to $1.8 billon, and possibly as little as $850 because of the notoriety that would accompany such a sale. It also supplements an earlier appraisal performed by Christie’s of the most significant objects in the collection.
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Topics: Artvest Partners LLC, Mark Stryker, State of Michigan, Michael Plummer, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Bankruptcy, grand bargain
After Judge Rhodes denied (as predicted) the expansive relief requested by creditors in the Detroit bankruptcy to perform a top-to-bottom appraisal of the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, attention has focused on those creditors’ objection to the “grand bargain” within the overall plan of adjustment. The creditors (and some academics) have argued that the grand bargain is a “preferential transfer,” that it puts some creditors (pension holders) in a better position than other creditors (lenders, in particular) in violation of bankruptcy principles.
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Topics: Old Master, Deaccession, the Ford Foundation, Mark Stryker, Chapter 9, the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Hudson-Webber Foundation, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Impressionism, Amedeo Modigliani, Michelangelo, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the William Davidson Foundation, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, valuation, Scheme for the Decoration of the Ceiling of the Si, Appraisal, Modernist Art, Detroit, the McGregor Fund, Eugene Driker, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Gerald Rosen, the Kresge Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Detroit Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, Detroit Free Press, eligibility, Detroit Bankruptcy, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
Since reports last month that a grand bargain had been struck to provide an infusion of cash to the Detroit bankruptcy in exchange for conveying the artwork at the Detroit Institute of Arts back to the museum itself, it has been largely accepted that the deal would succeed. The deal would contribute $366 million from several foundations, $100 million from the DIA foundation, and $350 million from the State of Michigan. This air of inevitability is due in large part to the cards that Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr holds: unless Detroit wants to monetize or sell the DIA collection that the city owns, creditors cannot compel the city to do so. This in turn is for factors unique to Chapter 9 bankruptcy, as discussed here previously.
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Topics: Poly International Auction Co. Ltd, Deaccession, Chapter 9, Emergency Manager, Art Capital Group LLC, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, Detroit Institute of Arts, Yuan Management Hong Kong Limited, Catalyst Acquisitions LLC, DIA, Marc Bell Partners, Kevyn Orr, DIA collection, Detroit Bankruptcy
Although there are no definitive signs yet of likely change, the question of secondary royalties for visual artists remains far from resolved. The most comprehensive effort to date, the California Resale Royalties Act was declared unconstitutional in 2012 by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in lawsuit brought by Chuck Close and others against Christie’s, eBay, and Sotheby’s. That decision is on appeal in the Ninth Circuit.
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Topics: Equity for Visual Artists Act of 2011, Resale Royalties, American Royalties Too Act, Chuck Close, Resale Royalty, Jerrold Nadler, Christie's, Tammy Baldwin, California Resale Royalties Act, Copyright, United States Copyright Office, Sotheby's, eBay
As we predicted when it was filed, Judge Rhodes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denied today several creditors’ motion to appoint an independent commission to appraise the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts (owned by the city of Detroit) as part of the city’s ongoing bankruptcy.
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Topics: Governor Rick Snyder, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy Code, Michigan, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Detroit Bankruptcy
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr’s plan to monetize the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, whether by sale or otherwise, took a large step towards realization today when at least nine local and national foundations pledged up to $330 million to Detroit to keep the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts safe from sale, loan, or other encumbrance, and also to shore up pension funds Following the release of Christie’s appraisal report, and weeks of rumors that a “grand bargain” was in the works to raise money in exchange for keeping DIA’s art collection out of any plan of adjustment for the city’s bankruptcy, the Detroit Free Press reports today that federal mediator and U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen released a statement outlining the pledge. The foundations identified are the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the Kresge Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the William Davidson Foundation, the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Hudson-Webber Foundation, the McGregor Fund and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
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Topics: Old Master, the Ford Foundation, Mark Stryker, Chapter 9, the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Hudson-Webber Foundation, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Impressionism, Amedeo Modigliani, Michelangelo, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the William Davidson Foundation, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, valuation, Scheme for the Decoration of the Ceiling of the Si, Appraisal, Modernist Art, Detroit, the McGregor Fund, Eugene Driker, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Gerald Rosen, the Kresge Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Detroit Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, Detroit Free Press, eligibility, Detroit Bankruptcy, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
Following on yesterday's release of the full report and recommendations by Christie's with regard to the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Bankruptcy Court has set a hearing on the creditors' earlier motion to force appraisal of additional works of art.
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Topics: Chapter 9, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, valuation, Appraisal, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Detroit Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, Detroit Free Press, eligibility, Detroit Bankruptcy
After Judge Rhodes of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled on December 3, 2013 that the city of Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection, the city immediately divulged that the report commissioned by the city from Christie’s to appraise the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) collection was nearly finished. On the day of the eligibility ruling, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Christie’s announced some tentative conclusions from the report, namely, that the 2,781 works appraised (roughly 5% of the total collection) had a value of approximately $452 million to $866 million. This was considerably lower than many had speculated.
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Topics: Old Master, Mark Stryker, Chapter 9, Scheme for Decoration of Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Impressionism, Amedeo Modigliani, Michelangelo, Judge Rhodes, Christie's, valuation, Appraisal, Modernist Art, Detroit, Eugene Driker, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Gerald Rosen, Detroit Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, Detroit Free Press, eligibility, Detroit Bankruptcy
The Hon. Steven W. Rhodes of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has ruled that Detroit may proceed with its Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Judge Rhodes explained his ruling for over an hour from the bench, finding Chapter 9 itself to be constitutional, and addressing other challenges including the requirements of Michigan state law, whether the city had bargained in good faith, and the extent to which pensions could be cut in the eventual plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The written decision is not yet available, but check back later in the day and it will be posted here.
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Topics: kevyn, DIA collection sale, Steven W. Rhodes, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Mi, Christie's, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, DIA, Detroit Bankruptcy
Major creditors of the city of Detroit filed a request in the bankruptcy proceeding to hasten the process of evaluating the value of the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The motion raises a few questions, but fundamentally it is off-base: in a municipal bankruptcy the creditors are never going to be able to force the sale of DIA's art. It will ultimately be, as it has always been, the decision of the city through its emergency manager Kevyn Orr. Significantly, though, this is the first actual filing in the bankruptcy related to DIA.
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Topics: Syncora Guarantee Inc., NORD/LB Covered Finance Bank S.A., City of Detroit Retirees, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Syncora Capital Assurance Inc., Dexia Crédit Local, FMS-WM Service, Christie's, valuation, Ambac Assurance Corporation, Appraisal, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, FMS Wertmanagement, DIA, Erste Europäische Pfandbrief-und Kommunalkreditban, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt International S.A., Dexia Holdings, Michigan Council 25 of the American Federation of, AFL-CIO and Sub-Chapter 98, Kevyn Orr, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG, Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, Detroit Bankruptcy, National Association
