Parties settle in legal fight over Robert Indiana's legacy

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Parties settle in legal fight over Robert Indiana's legacy
Robert Indiana -- his cat Particci is perched on his shoulder -- with his design for a poster for the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, in New York, March 4, 1964. Robert Walker/The New York Times.

by Graham Bowley



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After three years of courtroom hostilities, the estate of artist Robert Indiana and his former business partner said Friday that they had agreed to settle the legal disputes that cost the estate millions of dollars and clouded the market for a man known for such works as the sculpture called “LOVE.”

In a filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Morgan Art Foundation, the business partner, James W. Brannan, the personal representative for Indiana’s estate, and Jamie L. Thomas, Indiana’s former caretaker, said they were dropping the claims and counterclaims that began around the time of Indiana’s death in May 2018 at age 89 in Maine.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The legal back-and-forth drained assets that would otherwise have gone to a project designated by the artist in his will, an endeavor to convert his old home on the remote island of Vinalhaven, more than an hour’s ferry ride off the Maine coast, into a museum to memorialize his artistic legacy.

Larry Sterrs, chairman of the Star of Hope Foundation, a nonprofit that Indiana created in his will to shepherd the conversion, said he was happy to be a part of the conversation that had facilitated the final settlement.

“The Star of Hope looks forward to our partnership in the market with Morgan and accelerating work on our mission,” he said in a statement.

The protracted legal fight began around the time of Indiana’s death with a legal filing by the Morgan Art Foundation. The for-profit company holds the rights to produce versions of several of Indiana’s best-known works, including “LOVE.” In court papers, the company accused Thomas and a New York art publisher of isolating the artist in the final years of his life while they created unauthorized or adulterated versions of his work.

Among these works, it said, was BRAT, a huge sculpture and homage to bratwurst that was commissioned by a Wisconsin sausage maker. To further question Indiana’s role in the late artwork, Morgan came forward with a video that had been posted on social media in 2013 by one of the publisher’s studio assistants at the time and depicted an automatic signature machine signing Indiana prints.




Thomas and the publisher denied the accusations, and the publisher said the machine had Indiana’s blessing.

In counter claims, the estate accused the Morgan company in court papers of cheating Indiana out of the royalties he was due under the licensing agreement, which it denied.

The uncertainty caused by the litigation impacted the Indiana market. Morgan said the settlement would end that uncertainty by forging a partnership between the Morgan company and the Star of Hope Foundation.

“This settlement is an excellent outcome for all involved,” said Luke Nikas, the lawyer for Morgan, in a statement.

Lawyers for Thomas were among the signatories to the filing in district court. But the settlement does not include the New York art publisher, Michael McKenzie, who said in an interview that he was surprised that the artist’s estate — which had fought Morgan so bitterly — should now be prepared to settle on an agreement that would allow the company to partner with the foundation.

McKenzie, who since 2008 has had a contract with Indiana to produce and sell works based on his sculpture “HOPE,” continues to be locked in separate legal disputes with both Indiana’s estate and the Morgan company.

He remains open to an agreement with both parties, but said he could also challenge Friday's settlement. “I can take this apart,” McKenzie said.

Brannan, the personal representative for Indiana’s estate, said in a statement, “The future is bright for the market and legacy of Robert Indiana, and the estate is pleased to have helped create this success.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

June 14, 2021

Parties settle in legal fight over Robert Indiana's legacy

Sotheby's to offer rare physical Cryptopunk artworks

Sotheby's and Jay Chou collaborate to present "Contemporary Curated Asia"

UK government slams students for ditching 'colonial' queen portrait

Phillips Hong Kong Spring Auctions realise US$122 million with four white glove sales

New exhibition examines the seismic creative revolution of New York City in the 1980s

The inaugural Helsinki Biennial opens to the public

Kunstmuseum Den Haag opens 'CoBrA and Chaissac - Kindred Spirits'

Julians Park and Six Private Collections: Live achieves £4,107,063

Galerie Bene Taschen opens an exhibition of photographs by Joseph Rodriguez

Ugo Rondinone "your age and my age and the age of the rainbow" on view at Belvedere Museum

Exhibition of recent ceramics by Elisa D'Arrigo opens at The Elizabeth Harris Gallery

Sotheby's to offer an exceptional private collection of works by Degas, Renoir and Redon

One for the books, as Heritage Auctions' rare books event hits a record-setting $2.7 million

Hockney painting to headline Phillips' New York Evening Sale of 20th Century and Contemporary Art

Wayne Thiebaud landscape to be offered in Phillips' Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art

Phillips to offer Matthew Wong's Field in a Dream in New York Evening Sale

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art opens two new exhibitions

Happy World: On a Cloud arrives at Newfields

Monumental flag installation outside the Women's Museum celebrates voting rights

World premiere exhibition traces fantasy illustration through five centuries

Milton Moses Ginsberg, unconventional filmmaker, dies at 85

On a Kentucky riverbank, a path to remembrance

A trailblazing female conductor is still alone on the trail




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful