The Art Law Blog brings to light some pretty damaging language in a court opinion related to Halsey Minor’s conflict with Sotheby’s over some paintings he bought but refused to pay for:
“Minor does not allege that … the paintings were auctioned at an inflated price because of the failure to disclose the security interest. To the contrary, because the paintings were sold [to him] at auction, Minor set the price for the paintings. […] [B]ecause Minor pleads no facts to support an inference that Sotheby’s security interest affected the value of the paintings, he fails to identify how Sotheby’s failure to disclose this interest was material.”
“There is no logical connection between Sotheby’s failure to disclose a security interest and any actual or potential injury to … Minor” (The Art Law Blog)