Steve and Katie talk with fellow art lawyer Maggie Hoag about her journey from art to law and then to art law, including her transition from private practice to a long career as a top lawyer at Christie’s in New York. They discuss the nature of legal work at a major auction house and how the practice and industry has changed over time.
Author: Jacqueline Santos
The Art Market Integrity Act: Are AML regulations finally coming to the US art market?
Steve and Katie speak with art market regulatory and compliance expert Jane Levine about the state of anti-money laundering regulations in the art world and the efficacy and limitations of new legislation proposed in the United States.
Switzerland Starts to Address “Cultural Property with a Burdened Past”
Katie and Steve speak with Swiss art lawyer Florian Schmidt-Gabain about Switzerland’s (very) recent establishment of an “Independent Committee for Cultural Property with a Burdened Past” that will hear ownership disputes about Nazi-looted art as well cultural property acquired during the colonial era. They discuss why it has taken the Swiss so long to establish a process like this, the unique role of Switzerland during WWII, the challenges of the mostly voluntary and non-binding process, and the many questions that remain open as implementation unfolds.
Teaching Art Law
Steve and Katie talk with Professor Stephen Urice and Judge Simon Frankel about their careers in art law, art law teaching, and their authorship of the 6th edition of the renowned art law textbook “Law, Ethics, and the Visual Arts.” They talk about art law as an academic subject, how to teach and present art law to students, and the experience of updating and rewriting an iconic textbook originally written by the founder of art law teaching, John Henry Merryman.
An Update on the Manhattan DA’s Turnover Proceeding against the Art Institute of Chicago
Katie and Steve discuss the recent decision by the New York Supreme Court granting the Manhattan District Attorney request for a turnover order directing the Art Institute of Chicago to return a drawing by Egon Schiele, “Russian War Prisoner,” that the museum acquired in 1966. Katie and Steve review the history of the ownership of the drawing by Fritz Grünbaum, a cabaret singer who was killed by the Nazis in 1941, and the legal proceedings involving his art collection leading up to this controversial decision.