Three lawsuits regarding the sale of counterfeit paintings through the Knoedler gallery have been settled

NEW YORK. Six cases of sale of counterfeit paintings in the style of abstract expressionism remain unresolved.

In a lengthy legal battle, the victims claim that gallery representatives knowingly sold counterfeit paintings totaling $60 million. Representatives of the now-closed Knoedler Gallery, and in particular its former director Ann Friedman, were able to calmly settle three of the ten lawsuits brought against them by angry customers. The terms of the conflict settlement were not disclosed.

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Two other cases against the gallery in Manhattan federal court were dismissed this summer. The galleries of Manny Silverman and Richard Fagen filed their lawsuits as recently as August 4th. They brokered the sale of paintings to New York collector Stephen Robert in 2000 for more than $1 million.

On July 15, California collectors Martin and Charlene Cohen filed their lawsuit over the sale of a fake painting allegedly painted by Mark Rothko. The deal took place in 1998 for a sale price of $385,000 through Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery. The third lawsuit was filed in New York federal court by collector William Lane, also over the sale of a fake Rothko in 1998 through the Gerald Solomon Gallery. This time the transaction amount was $320,000.

The very first lawsuit brought against Knoedler for allegedly selling counterfeits by collector Pierre LaGrange was quickly settled in 2012, but six federal lawsuits against the once-venerable gallery remain open.

In fact, the scale of the disaster is much greater; many galleries and even auctions were involved in the case of fake paintings. So the museums of modern art in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Beyeler Gallery Basel exhibited fakes purchased from the Knoedler gallery. The auction house Christie’s sold fake paintings by Rothko and Lane for 2.2 million US dollars, when the fact was discovered, the management of the house returned the money to the victims.

Among those who found themselves on the side of the defendants, in addition to gallery employees, are art historian Oliver Wieck and others. Key figures include Long Island art dealer Glafira Rosales, who supplied counterfeit works to the Knoedler gallery in the 1990s, and her companion Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz. Rosales pleaded guilty to federal income tax evasion and money laundering in 2013 and is awaiting sentencing, while Bergantiños Diaz and his brother were arrested in Spain last year and are facing extradition to the US to face charges. in federal criminal cases.

Among those charged, according to the federal indictment, is Pei Shen Qian, a Chinese-born artist who painted all the forgeries while living in Queens.

Despite everything, the gallery’s lawyers continue to actively defend themselves, hoping to win at least in the remaining six lawsuits.