Hiding in Plain Sight
November 18, 2020
About the Event
What’s in a name? Art dealers and attorneys were on standby to help answer the question collectors and the general public have about the attribution of art. As art’s attribution changes so does its market value.
Connaisseurs who stay alert at auction may enjoy the good fortune of catching a work of art that is misattributed. Who knows, maybe over a course of a decade the market value of such a rare find could grow tenfold, or even increase from $10,000 hammer price to $400 million.
If that rings a bell, join the Center for Art Law for a discussion on the sales of misattributed artworks at auction and the fascinating story of Salvador Mundi, the painting that set the world record for the most expensive piece sold at auction in 2017. This dialogue with Anne Laure Bandle, Swiss attorney and author of The Sale of Misattributed Artworks and Antiques at Auction (2016) and Robert Simon, an art dealer who recognized Salvator Mundi as a missing work of Leonardo da Vinci and co-author of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi and the Collecting of Leonardo in the Stuart Courts, was moderated by Irina Tarsis, the Center for Art Law’s Founder and Managing Director.
About the Speakers
Anne Laure Bandle
Anne Laure Bandle is an attorney-at-law at the lawfim Borel & Barbey in Geneva where she advises clients in matters related to works of art, copyright, contracts, estate planning, foundations and trusts. Anne Laure is a lecturer in copyright, art and entertainment law at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, a lecturer in art and philanthropy at the University of Geneva and a guest lecturer in cultural heritage and art law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Moreover, Anne Laure is the director of the Art Law Foundation, a foundation that aims to promote and coordinate the work and research in the field of art law. In particular, it supports the research and teaching activities of the Art-Law Centre. Anne Laure is a member of the Task Force of the Responsible Art Market Initiative (RAM), the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA) executive committee, the Professional Advisors to the International Art Market (PAIAM) UK board as well as of the executive committee of the Musée de l’Elysée patrons club. She holds a PhD in law from the University of Geneva. It deals with the sale of misattributed artworks and antiques at auction and is published with Edward Elgar Publishing. Since 2015, Anne Laure writes a column for the newspaper Le Temps on the art market. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and frequently publishes on matters related to her fields of expertise. Anne Laure has been recognized as an expert in the field of art and cultural heritage.
Robert Simon
Robert Simon established his gallery in 1997 following fifteen years working as an art appraiser, researcher, and consultant for Old Master painting dealers and private collectors. His academic specialty is Florentine painting of the sixteenth century; he received his doctorate in art history from Columbia University and wrote his doctoral thesis on Bronzino’s portraits of Cosimo I de’ Medici. He has published and lectured on both art-historical matters and on broader concerns relating to the authenticity, valuation, conservation, and commercial trade of works of art, and has held leadership roles in the Appraisers Association of America, the Art and Antique Dealers League of America, and the Private Art Dealers Association. Most recently, he co-authored Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi & The Collecting of Leonardo in the Stuart Courts, published by Oxford University Press.
Handouts and Reading Material
Read the handouts HERE.
