Neumann v. Sotheby’s, Inc., No. 652170/2018 (Sup. Ct. NY, filed May 3, 2018). This dispute, now pending appeal, involves the 86 year-old paterfamilias of the Neumann family, who seeks an injunction against Sotheby’s from offering the painting “Flesh and Spirit” by Jean-Michel Basquiat for sale. Neumann alleged that per a 2015 agreement, which was confirmed a year later, Sotheby’s promised Neumann that they would seek his “approval on all matters relating to cataloging, placement, and exhibiting each and every work consigned”. Although pieces in the collection are “owned by a variety of persons and entities”, they are all considered part of the Neumann Family Collection, of which Hubert Neumann is the steward. However, in April 2018 Neumann learned that his daughter Belinda had consigned Basquiat’s “Flesh and Spirit” – part of the collection – to Sotheby’s for a sale in May, breaching the terms of his previous agreement with the auction house. Complaint available here.

Shagalov v. Edelman, 6449N 655576/17 (N.Y. App. Div. May 3, 2018). The New York State Appellate Division affirmed a lower court order granting a preliminary injunction to enjoin defendants Asher Edelman et al. from “transporting, transferring, disposing, alienating, pledging, assigning, or otherwise encumbering or moving Keith Haring’s ‘Untitled (March 5, 1984)’ and Frank Stella’s ‘Guifa E La Berretta Rossa’ and ‘La Scienza della Fiacca.’” The plaintiffs, represented by Barton, LLP, successfully demonstrated that they would be “irreparably harmed absent the requested preliminary injunction” and met their burden of “establishing a reasonable probability of success on the merits of their claim that defendants violated their UCC Article 9 rights.” The decision is available here.

Morgan Art Found. Ltd. v. McKenzie, 1:18-cv-04438-AT (S.D.N.Y. May 18, 2018). Robert Indiana, the American artist famous for his “LOVE” statues, is at the center of a recent lawsuit brought in mid-May. Morgan Art Foundation, the artist’s agent for the past twenty years, is accusing art publisher American Image Art, its founder Michael McKenzie, and Indiana’s employee Jamie Thomas of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, breach of contract, unfair competition, and other counts for exploiting the artist and selling forged works. Indiana himself is also implicated by the plaintiff in the copyright infringements, because he has “a financial interest in and the ability to supervise the infringing activity”of the other defendants, and had conveyed rights to many of his works to Morgan Art Foundation in two earlier agreements. The original complaint is available here.