By Steffanie E. Keim, Esq.
The German artist Jörg Immendorff (June 14, 1945 – May 28, 2007) was controversial during his lifetime and the controversies surrounding his art have not ended with his death.
Following Immendorff’s death, his estate became embroiled in numerous high-profile lawsuits, including a suit by his illegitimate son, Jean-Louis, from a relationship with Marie-Josephine Lynen, and several suits launched by his widow, Oda Jaune, against various gallery owners and art dealers he had dealt with.
One of Jaune’s suits dealt with a version of the painting, Ready-Made de l´Histoire dans Café de Flore, offered for sale in Düsseldorf with the Viennese auction house Dorotheum auction house in 2007 (the painting was withdrawn from the auction following the criminal complaint by Jaune as discussed below). In 2008, Michael Werner, Immendorff’s long-term art dealer, issued a warning that some works regarded as Immendorff’s may be forgeries. Critics claim that the forgery controversy is merely a public relations stunt and a market dispute between gallery owners and art dealers with financial interests.
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