Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

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

Rockwell Removal Result of Mass AG Foot Dragging

November 13, 2017 by Marion Maneker

Norman Rockwell, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” 1950

Appellate judge Joseph Trainor granted a 30-stay on the sale of the Berkshire Museum’s art resulting in the withdrawal of two Norman Rockwell paintings from tonight’s American art sale at Sotheby’s.

William Lee, the museum’s lawyer, will meet again with the Massachusetts AG’s office to resolve the the issue, according to the Berkshire Eagle:

In challenging the museum’s deaccession plan, Lee wrote in his filing Friday, the attorney general has exerted an “extraordinary authority … under which the minutiae of public charity decision-making would be subject to the approval of a small group of government lawyers.”

Lee’s filing faults the office for moving too slowly last week to seek an appeal, leaving Trainor with scant time to review a court record that tops 1,000 pages and hours of transcribed arguments. He says his office asked the attorney general’s team Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday whether it would appeal, only to hear that it would do so at 10 p.m. Thursday.

In his decision Friday, Trainor noted that he had read only the filings entered into this court’s docket that day. He granted the attorney general’s motion after deciding that the “balance of risk of irreparable harm … weighs in favor of the petitioner.”

That petitioner was the government, which had argued that all would be lost if the Monday auction were to proceed, to be followed by three other sales of museum objects at Sotheby’s the same week.

Dispute over Berkshire Museum art sale moves to next stage (The Berkshire Eagle)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Berkshire Museum’s Rockwell Leads Sotheby’s American Art SaleBerkshire Museum’s Rockwell Leads Sotheby’s American Art Sale
  • Sothebys American = $28.6mSothebys American = $28.6m
  • Zhang Xiaogang and Key Chinese Contemporary Artists from Storied Johnson Chang Collection Come to AuctionZhang Xiaogang and Key Chinese Contemporary Artists from Storied Johnson Chang Collection Come to Auction
  • Bacon, Picasso, Lichtenstein Top 2020 Global Modern & Contemporary Auctions: AnalysisBacon, Picasso, Lichtenstein Top 2020 Global Modern & Contemporary Auctions: Analysis
  • Van Rysselberghe, Klee, Magritte Lead June 2020 Paris Impressionist and Modern Sales: AnalysisVan Rysselberghe, Klee, Magritte Lead June 2020 Paris Impressionist and Modern Sales: Analysis
  • As Coronavirus Escalates, Sotheby’s Relocates Modern and Contemporary Hong Kong Sales to New YorkAs Coronavirus Escalates, Sotheby’s Relocates Modern and Contemporary Hong Kong Sales to New York

Filed Under: General Tagged With: American Art, Berkshire Museum, Norman Rockwell, Sotheby's

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...