Patricia Cohen reports on the emergence of two new lawsuits against Knoedler and its former owners and director stemming from the fakes sold by Glafira Rosales:
In one, the Manny Silverman Gallery in Los Angeles and Richard Feigen’s gallery in New York are asking to be repaid $1,050,000 for a painting that was sold as a work by Clyfford Still in 2000 as part of a three-way transaction with Knoedler.
The other, filed by Martin and Sharleen Cohen of Los Angeles, states that in October 1998, the couple bought a work said to be by Mark Rothko that turned out to be a fake. It was purchased for them from Knoedler by an intermediary, the Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery.
The Still and the Rothko paintings were part of a trove of counterfeit artworks supplied to Knoedler and another dealer, Julian Weissman, by Glafira Rosales, who pleaded guilty to fraud in September.
The Cohens also purchased what the court filing described as a fake de Kooning that had been provided to Knoedler by another admitted forger,Tony “Cha-cha” Masaccio. The Cohens are demanding to be repaid $475,000 plus interest for the two works.
Two New Lawsuits Accuse Manhattan Gallery of Having Sold Fakes (NYTimes)