Fine Art Litigation

Smart galleries, museums, coin and stamp collectors, wine collectors, musicians with expensive musical instruments, personal jewelry collections and a range of businesses in the art world with valuable pieces of art often expect protection from their insurance policy.

Issues can arise with that policy if theft, question of title and or fire damage occurs to the art. If you are having a difficult time with your adjuster in negotiating a settlement in regards to stolen or damaged art, please call our law firm today for advice. Our lawyers have experience in helping clients wth unique art related legal matters.

Some Interesting Art World Litigation Facts:

One of the more current topics in the art world is "defective art". Famed movie director, Steven Spielberg, recently dealt with defective title when he discovered that his Norman Rockwell painting, the Russian Schoolroom, had been stolen from a gallery 16 years earlier. Spielberg returned the painting to the authorities, where it sat in a custody battle between two other alleged owners.

Did you know that one of the most complex and largest legal art disputes in Canada involved a small gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick?  A decade-long legal saga played out between Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation involving valuable paintings. At issue, were 78 works of art worth millions of dollars that arrived at the gallery in the 1950s and 1960s. Parties argued over who owned the pieces and whether they were loaned to the gallery; the gallery maintained Lord Beaverbrook, also known as William Maxwell Aitken, gave the works as gifts. 

Avoid surprises when disputes arise. Call our office today.