Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Flam Says Freedman Didn’t Want to Hear the Truth

February 4, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Fake Motherwell sold by Rosales through Julian Weismann
A fake Robert Motherwell discredited by Dedalus Foundation

Jay Grimm is an appraiser and he’s been spending time at the de Sole-Freedman trial downtown. He caught Dedalus Foundation head Jack Flam’s testimony on Wednesday about the Robert Motherwell paintings he deemed “looked more like the Elegies than the Elegies themselves.”

According to Grimm’s report, Flam is the first witness to have had a sustained and oppositional relationship with Freedman. He got involved with the Knoedler fakes rather late, long after Freedman had sold numerous works and was deeply invested in her story of David Herbert and his supposed relationship with a collector who lived in Mexico and Switzerland:

Flam’s testimony today was that starting in 2007, he repeatedly warned Freedman that these works were likely fake but she rebuffed him every time, obstinately clinging to the fantasy of their mysterious provenance. […] Flam started expressing his doubts to Freedman around then, and ever more so as time went on as his inquiries yielded worrying results. Freedman for her part maintained all along that they were authentic.  At an impasse, they mutually decided to submit the works to forensic testing in early 2008 but Freedman was not forthcoming about the outcome of this testing.  By November, 2008, after repeated nagging from Flam, Freedman finally showed him some of the results of this scientific examination, which was damning.  Freedman nevertheless persisted in requesting additional research, which Flam/Daedalus did and which again seemed to prove that the works were fake.  Finally Freedman stopped returning his calls.

Extraordinary Assumptions

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Art Paris 2014 Sales Report by AMAArt Paris 2014 Sales Report by AMA
  • In London's OrbitIn London's Orbit
  • Met Compensated for Loss of Astor Childe Hassam Met Compensated for Loss of Astor Childe Hassam
  • White Cube Cubed: Third Space to OpenWhite Cube Cubed: Third Space to Open
  • Miró Constellation to be Sold at Sotheby’s in JuneMiró Constellation to be Sold at Sotheby’s in June
  • German Artists Unexpected Stars of Christie's SaleGerman Artists Unexpected Stars of Christie's Sale

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...