Art Historian Found Liable for Incorrect Authentication

July 12, 2013

Werner Spies, former director of the Pompidou Center and renowned Max Ernst expert, was found liable for an incorrect authentication of Ernst’s Earthquake (1948) on May 24.  The Tribunal de Grande Instance of Nanterre in France ruled that Spies and dealer Jacques La Beraudiere owed Louis Reijtenbagh €652,883 in damages.  They specifically condemned Spies, making him responsible for the payment and that La Beraudiere pay “up to half the sum.”

The painting was sold by La Beraudiere on September 22, 2004 in Geneva.

Spies stated: “I never issued a certificate [of authenticity].  I’m not an expert, in the French legal sense.  I am an art historian.  I simply wrote the work be included in the catalog raisonne, which is a reference to my own publication.”  The court ruled that Spies’ decision to include the work in the catalog raisonne had the same “value as a certificate of authenticity unconditionally.”

The decision in France sets a new precedent against art experts and introduces liabilities for future academic study in the country.