In Canada, from the Globe & Mail, they’re having their own court case that exposes some of the art world practices most people would like to see ended. In this case, two men who met through their wives and decided to buy CA$1m worth of art together. Fabrice Marcolini had owned Artcore Gallery and Al Pace was a wealthy lawyer. They should have been a good team:

They made their first joint purchase in 2006, buying a piece by Botero called Nina Recostada for $330,000 (U.S.). By the end of 2008, they had formalized their partnership and acquired a half-dozen more works worth about $1.5-million in total, according to court filings.

The relationship began to unravel in May, 2009, when Mr. Pace’s accountants asked Mr. Marcolini for records of the art purchases, according to court filings. After a series of testy e-mails, Mr. Pace told his former friend in an e-mail: “You leave me no choice but to resort to litigation. This is on your head.”

Mr. Marcolini offered to settle by handing over the artwork, but subsequently vanished for several weeks, breaking contact with friends and colleagues. He later said in court filings that a separation with Ms. Mesenge had left him depressed and under psychiatric care. He was also in a bind. The Distillery District had increased Artcore’s rent and Mr. Marcolini had to move out quickly “to protect investors’ interests,” he said in an e-mail, filed in court.

How one court case peeled back the veneer on the art world (Globe & Mail)