Do art historians know how many “Spanish Elegies” Motherwell produced? While the well is not running dry yet, one of the paintings attributed to the great American artist is now truly worthless.

The New York Times reported that a forged Robert Motherwell painting was branded with the equivalent of a scarlet letter in a legal settlement involving three art galleries and the Dedalus Foundation, which owns the copyrights to Motherwell’s works. The unseated painting at the center of the dispute was sold to a European gallery, Killala Fine Art, for $650,000 in 2007 by Julian Weissman formerly with Knoedler & Company, who bought it from Glafira Rosales, a dealer on Long Island

As part of the settlement, Rosales and Weissman will reimburse Killala for the price of the painting and Dedalus for its expenses.

Source: The New York Times.