This is Volume 2, Issue No. 3 of Spencer's Art Law Journal. This issue contains a single essay, which will become available by posting on Artnet, January 2012. Volume 3, Issue No. 1 will appear in Spring 2012
As noted in earlier volumes of this Journal, art law is an amalgam of personal property law, contract, estate, tax and intellectual property law relating to the acquisition, retention and disposition of fine art.
The essay in this issue will tee-up the question of how bona fide purchasers and other owners (donees, heirs and the like) can lose possession and title to the "true" original owner. Answers to some of the questions posed by this essay may come from the New York Court of Appeals later in 2012
Three times a year issues of this Journal will address legal questions of practical significance to collectors, dealers, scholars and the general art-minded public.
R.I.P. Dorothea Tanning UTTERLY POSSESSING by Jerry Saltz Feb. 3, 2012
Jerry Saltz pays homage to the artist who stood at the center of the Surrealist movement, a "vicious mill for women," and refused to play second fiddle.
ARTNET NEWS Feb. 2, 2012
Janine Gordon files new brief in Ryan McGinley copyright case. Plus, David Reed does skateboards, Denver law students oppose Christo's Over the River and a Mona Lisa replica sheds new light on the masterpiece.
NEW THIS MONTH IN U.S. MUSEUMS Feb. 1, 2012
Van Gogh, Tacita Dean, Renoir, Juan Downey, Gauguin, John Chamberlain, Cindy Sherman, Rineke Djikstra, Jules Olitski, "The Generational," "The Art Of Golf," Outsider Art, more.
Art Horoscope THE FEBRUARY PERSPECTIVE by Leigh Oswald Feb. 1, 2012
Despite the global socio / economic / political / environmental mess we find ourselves in, Neptune entering in Pisces from the 3rd onward brings hope for the rebalancing of energies.
TREES A CROWD by James Croak Jan. 31, 2012
Tracking an increased prevalence of art that deals in organic iconography -- and uses trees in particular.
John Cage CAGED IN 2012 by Charlie Finch Jan. 31, 2012
Charlie Finch ponders the legacy of pioneering composer John Cage on the centennial of his birth.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 30, 2012
Beach Boys lyricist Van Dyke Parks tells painter Erik den Breejen to "cease and desist." Plus, 1980s AIDS activist collective Gran Fury gets a new survey, and Sandro Kopp paints Skype portraits of his celebrity friends.
Simone Leigh MOUTHING OFF by Elizabeth Kley Jan. 27, 2012
The pioneering black artist "channels the power of prehistoric female craft" with a monumental exhibition of new work at The Kitchen.
Jordan Wolfson's Video THE SEMITE, SMITTEN by Emily Nathan
Jan. 27, 2012
The young artist's new CGI animated video, featuring a schizoid character unofficially called "The Jew," goes on view at uptown hotspot Alex Zachary Peter Currie.
Old Masters NGA SNAGS $1.5 MIL DE KEYSER by Paul Jeromack Jan. 26, 2012
In Christie's New York "Old Master Paintings" sale, Jan. 25, 2012, the NGA wins out over fierce competitors to acquire its first painting by Dutch master Thomas de Keyser.
THE BIG FRIEZE by Charlie Finch Jan. 26, 2012
London's Frieze Art Fair is not slated to dock in New York until May 2012, but its press minions are already hitting the streets.
Winter Antiques Show AMERICANA AND MORE by Brook S. Mason Jan. 25, 2012
The 58th annual antique fair, hosted at the Park Avenue Armory, is a barometer of taste, and this year's 73 dealers come bearing plenty of Americana.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 24, 2012
Hard-boiled crime king Weegee in four new shows, further details on Gagosian-Cowles feud, Indiana artists bank on Super Bowl tourism, and the Design Museum London gets new £80 million home.
Bushwick Art Scene BIGFOOT IN BUSHWICK by Rachel Corbett Jan. 20, 2012
With a scattering of new galleries and next month's arrival of Luhring Augustine, locals debate what's next for the prospering Bushwick art scene.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 18, 2012
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery gets more heat from last year’s Wojnarowicz censor. Plus, video game art in D.C., and making sense of the Chinese auction boom.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 12, 2012
James Franco to play Mapplethorpe, plus, a provocative Berlin Biennale project by Martin Zet, lingerie models at Musée d'Orsay, and 15 art fairs in the next two weeks.
Damien Hirst HOT SPOTS by Rachel Corbett Jan. 11, 2012
With spot paintings at all 11 Gagosian galleries around the globe, Damien Hirst dominates once again, and he's still bored by it all.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 10, 2012
"Hajj" at the British Museum, Henry O. Tanner in Philadelphia, Jesús Soto at NYU's Grey Gallery and a boost for the Guggenheim's proposed branch in Helsinki.
Gallery Shows NYC THE NEW YORK LIST 1/9/2012 by Emily Nathan Jan. 9, 2012
"Corporations," Bertien van Nanen, James Nares, Hassan Sharif, Michael Snow, Margaret Evangeline, Thomas Woodruff, "Diggers," On Kawara, Joel Sternfeld, Ai Weiwei.
Close Encounters NOW DIG THIS! by Linda Yablonsky Jan. 6, 2012
The black art renaissance, now and then, via Clifford Owens in New York, "Now Dig This!" in Los Angeles, plus David Hammons and more..
New Art OVERLOAD by Charlie Finch Jan. 6, 2012
Stonehenge, the Beach Boys, and new art by Erik den Breejen at Freight & Volume and Janet Malcolm at Lorie Bookstein Fine Art.
ARTNET NEWS Jan. 4, 2012
Richard Prince gets a show at the Museo Picasso Málaga, a round-up of January art benefits and a Metallica-inspired exhibition in Los Angeles.
NEW THIS MONTH IN U.S. MUSEUMS Jan. 3, 2012
Jennifer Bolande, Zoe Strauss, Picasso’s drawings, Dana Schutz, Enrico David, Djuna Barnes, Annie Leibovitz, Frank Gaard, Rabindranath Tagore, more.
Helen Frankenthaler EBB AND FLOW by Charlie Finch Dec. 27, 2011
RIP Helen Frankenthaler, 1928-2011, American Abstract-Expressionist painter who was a pioneer of the Washington Color School.
ARTNET NEWS Dec. 22, 2011
Dread Scott blazes into the New Year with two fiery shows. Plus, watch Professor Kalup Linzy's disciples of melodrama perform their NYU final projects, and a Maine artist tracks down her 600 Facebook friends.
Art Jokes HOLIDAY ARTOONS by Anthony Haden-Guest Dec. 22, 2011
Six new art-world cartoons -- artoons -- from the man-about-town and author of In the Mean Time: The Other Ends of the World (2011).
Artnet Design DESIGN WORLD NEWS by Brook S. Mason Dec. 22, 2011
New Design fair for Lincoln Center, PADNY's unsure future, French Flair at Demisch Danant, Thierry Despont's "Cabinet of Curiosities," more.
John Chamberlain AUTOPILOT by Charlie Finch Dec. 21, 2011
RIP John Chamberlain, 1927-2011, second generation Abstract Expressionist artist widely known for his car-crash sculptures.
ARTNET NEWS Dec. 20, 2011
Buy your own Work of Art prints-on-canvas, and Bravo keeps the money. Plus, more on the David Rohn and Evo Love fortune-teller fracas and the India Art Fair beefs up for 2012.
Jean-Luc Moulène MINIMUM OPUS by Rachel Corbett Dec. 19, 2011
Dia:Beacon takes its chances with a little-known French sculptor and photographer in a sprawling new year-long exhibition.
ARTNET NEWS Dec. 12, 2011
Abu Dhabi Art treads water. Plus, a PBS newsman opens art gallery, last show for Merce Cunningham dancers, John Baldessari "post-studio art," NADA to Art Cologne, Bank of America gives to RISD.
ARTNET NEWS Dec. 7, 2011
Knoedler's and the forgery ring, Voina member escapes from Russian jail, and Rachel Kneebone pairs her work with Rodin at the Brooklyn Museum.
Miami Art Week PULSE, SCOPE AND MORE ON MIAMI 2011 by Walter Robinson Dec. 5, 2011
Bill Powers, Richard Phillips, Ultra Violet, Thierry Alet, Maxwell Davidson, Paloma Teppi, Hamburg Kennedy, the Amazing Ultran, Devon Dikeou, Tracey Emin, Robert Chambers, Mette Tommerup, more.
Miami Art Week PAPER CHASE by Deborah Ripley Dec. 5, 2011
Prints and multiples by Buckminster Fuller, Larry Bell, Wolf Kahn, Yoshitomo Nara and more at Art Basel Miami Beach, INK, the Design District, Art Miami and elsewhere.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2011 SAY HELLO TO THE IPHONE ART FAIR by Walter Robinson Dec. 1, 2011
Collecting art via smart phones, plus David Cohen, Frank Bernarducci, Amanda Coulson, Jorge Perez, Jennifer Rubell, Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Martha Friedman, Larry Gagosian and more.
NEW THIS MONTH IN U.S. MUSEUMS Dec. 1, 2011
Theaster Gates, Matthew Buckingham, Rodarte, Alfred Wertheimer’s Elvis photographs, 2010 SECA Art Awards, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, conceptual art and the photograph, Sanja Iveković, more.
ARTNET NEWS Nov. 29, 2011
Martin Creed decorates a London restaurant, Oslo discovers a Rubens, Voina to curate Berlin Biennale and Anselm Reyle designs for Dior.
ARTNET NEWS Nov. 18, 2011
Gordon v. McGinley copyright saga continues. Plus, Destroy All Monsters in L.A., skateboards from Guyton\Walker, Frieze Art Fair's New York lineup, and the Contemporary Istanbul fair.
WEEKEND UPDATE by Walter Robinson Nov. 18, 2011
Spartacus Chetwynd, Georges Braque, Paul McCarthy, "Grisaille," Charles Simonds, Diego Rivera, Judy Hudson, Nick Poe, Terry Richardson, Urs Fischer, Margaret Lee, more.
David Altmejd CREATION THEORY by Rachel Corbett Nov. 17, 2011
Peter Brant's newest star, David Altmejd, transforms the rustic Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, Conn., into a bizarre cosmos of the beautiful and the grotesque.
Artnet News MIAMI ART WEEK 2011 Nov. 15, 2011
Bienvenidos a Miami! The global art world is about to descend upon Miami for Miami Art Week -- herewith, a preview.