IFAR Journal
Volume 15, No. 3/4
2014
3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Aaron Milrad, Ronald T. Labaco, Barry X Ball, Don Undeen, Axel Rüger, James R. Klaiber
The edited proceedings of a July 2014 IFAR Evening where an expert team of speakers discussed the use of 3D printing technologies in creating art and in making art and museums more accessible to the public. The program also addressed the possible ethical and legal issues involved.
Introductory Remarks – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Aaron Milrad
Art attorney Aaron Milrad provides an overview of 3D printing as an emerging technology, and examines possible areas of concern for the art market, such as authenticity and fraudulent insurance claims.
The Exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Ronald T. Labaco
Ronald T. Labaco discusses “Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital,” the exhibition he curated at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, which included over 120 works created via 3D printing methods. The author demonstrates that the hand of the artist is intimately involved in digital fabrication.
Digital Technologies for Creating Sculpture – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Barry X Ball
Barry X Ball discusses his use of digital technologies in the creation of three of his sculptures: Sleeping Hermaphrodite, which he exhibited at the Venice biennale; Perfect Forms, exhibited at “Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital”; and a work in progress, a portrait bust of Prince Albert II of Monaco.
The MediaLab at the Met – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Don Undeen
Don Undeen, Manager of the Metropolitan Museum’s MediaLab, discusses how the MediaLab is spurring a conversation between the creative technology community, curators, educators, and conservators, thereby making art and the art museum accessible through technology.
The Van Gogh Museum Relievo Collection – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— Axel Rüger
Axel Rüger, Director of the Van Gogh Museum, discusses the museum’s Relievo Project, which has thus far replicated 9 of Van Gogh’s works, using a 3D scanner and a specially designed Fuji printing process. He discusses art historical and technical issues of reproductions, and how the Relievo Project fits within this continuum.
Applying U.S. Intellectual Property Law to 3D Printing – 3D Printing: Infinite Possibilities and New Challenges for the Art World
— James R. Klaiber
James R. Klaiber, a patent and copyright attorney, discusses potential copyright and patent issues related to 3D printing. He examines the limited case law thus far, and predicts changes as 3D printing and technology become more readily available.
Buyer Beware: Is There a Duty to Authenticate Art?
— Steven R. Schindler and Katherine Wilson-Milne
In a recent case, ACA Galleries, Inc. v. Kinney, ACA’s claims of fraud and mutual mistake regarding the purchase of a fake Milton Avery painting were dismissed, with the judge ruling that the gallery should have obtained an expert opinion prior to purchase. The authors contrast this decision with two earlier rulings and suggest that art purchasers may now need to investigate works before sale, as well as hire litigators experienced in art law.
In Memoriam: David Rosand
— Gertrude Wilmers
An IFAR trustee remembers art historian and IFAR Art Council member, David Rosand – a long-time professor of the Art History Department at Columbia University, who will be remembered for his groundbreaking work on Venetian Renaissance art.
— Lisa Duffy-Zeballos and Sharon Flescher
IFAR’s art research director and executive director discuss the criminal complaint against John Re, a Long Island man who passed off counterfeit Pollock and de Kooning paintings with a fake “Schulte Collection” provenance. Mr. Re pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud art collectors. The Complaint against Re and the article cite IFAR’s research on a large group of fakes sold by Re and later submitted to IFAR’s Authentication Research Service.
News & Updates: Swiss Museum Accepts Gurlitt Trove and Publishes Images
— Sharon Flescher
The IFAR Journal has previously discussed the Gurlitt collection, a trove of Nazi era art that remained hidden for over 60 years. While under investigation by the German government, Cornelius Gurlitt, son of the man who amassed the collection, died and unexpectedly bequeathed the works to the Kunstmuseum Bern. After deciding to accept the collection, the Swiss museum has moved rapidly to show that it intends to bring transparency and legitimacy to the transfer process.
News & Updates: Suit against Oklahoma Museum Raises New Questions about Nazi Era Works
— Nicholas Dietz
A suit against the University of Oklahoma involving a Nazi-looted Pissarro painting at its Fred Jones Museum brought the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) under heightened scrutiny. Although the AAM was dropped as a co-defendant in the case, it faced the issue of whether it should be holding its members accountable for violating AAM ethics and standards regarding alleged Nazi-era art looted objects.
News & Updates: New York Tax Court Denies Dealer Refund on Forged Beltracchi Painting
— KeunJung Cho and Sharon Flescher
A discussion of a case in which the art gallery Richard L. Feigen & Co attempted to reclaim a large New York State sales tax payment for a work sold as a Max Ernst in 2004 that was later revealed to be a fake by German master-forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. The gallery rescinded the sale and returned the full purchase price to the client. The legal decision underscored the incompatibilities that can arise between legal time constraints and the many years often needed for art experts to re-assess the attribution of a painting.
News & Updates: Punishment for Two Jasper Johns Fraudsters
— Sharon Flescher and Ann-Margret Gidley
A discussion of two criminal cases involving works by Jasper Johns. Johns’ former studio assistant, who stole 22 works from him, and a former bronze foundry owner, who made and tried to sell an unauthorized cast of Johns’ work, both pleaded guilty. Brian Ramnarine, the foundry owner, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, while James Meyer, Johns’ studio assistant for 27 years, admitted stealing unfinished authentic works from Johns' studio and selling them with false documentation to a Manhattan Gallery.
News & Updates: A Happy Ending for the Detroit Institute of Art
— Sharon Flescher
An update on the bankruptcy case that threatened the DIA’s collection, discussed at a 2013 IFAR Evening, “Bankruptcy and the Detroit Institute of Art.” Steven Rhodes, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, approved a restructuring plan to save the museum’s collection.
News & Updates: T-Shirt Case Creates Circuit Split on Fair Use; Will this bring U.S. Supreme Court Attention?
— Ann-Margret Gidley
An opinion issued by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in Kienitz v. Sconnie Nation pointedly disagrees with the reasoning used by the Second Circuit in New York in its recent ruling in the high profile Cariou v. Prince copyright case. The Seventh Circuit’s criticism of the Second Circuit’s fair-use analysis creates a “circuit split,” which may prompt the Supreme Court to address the issue.
News & Updates: Does a Recent Massachusetts Consignment Case Suggest a Trend?
— KeunJung Cho
A series of high profile scandals involving once-reputable galleries has spurred state legislators to provide consignors with legal protection against insolvent galleries. A September 2014 ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, in the case of Plumb v. Casey, suggests that legal framework of the art world is being reconfigured to provide greater protections for artists and the owners of artworks who entrust their property to galleries.
News & Updates: California Resale Royalties Case Revived, National Legislation Stalls in Congress
— Ann-Margret Gidley and Sharon Flescher
A federal Court of Appeals will re-hear a class action lawsuit brought by several California artists and artists’ foundations seeking resale royalties. At the same time, proposed legislation to create a national resale royalty right was unable to make it out of the 113th Congress.
News & Updates: Coda on Mummy Mask – Government Gets SLAMmed with Legal Fees
An update on a case discussed in several previous issues of IFAR Journal: after the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM) got the government’s forfeiture suit against it for the Ka-Nefer-Nefer funerary mask thrown out, the museum successfully demanded to be reimbursed for legal fees.
Stolen Art
Stolen items include Guercino’s The Madonna with Saints John the Evangelist and Gregory the Wonderworker, stolen from the Church of San Vincenzo, Modena, Italy; Norbert Joseph Carl Grund’s A Gentleman Listening to the Lute Playing of a Lady, A River Landscape with a Tower and Approaching Thunderstorm, and Winter Landscape with a Sleigh, stolen in Munich, Germany; and Sam Francis’ Untitled, stolen in Toulouse, France.
Recovered Art
Recovered items include a 19th-century bronze Mercury, stolen in London. England; Nagai Kozan’s ivory Pekingese Dog, stolen in London, England; and John Piper’s Harlaxton through Gate.
Missing Art
Missing items include Vincent van Gogh’s Gardener near Twisted Apple Tree, missing in New York, New York, USA; Francis Bacon’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, missing in Athens, Greece; and Ioannis Moralis’ Geometric Embrace, missing in Athens, Greece.
