|
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote granted a motion to dismiss
the lawsuit against The Keith Haring Foundation that was filed
last year by Elizabeth Bilinski and other collectors, according
to court documents.
Cote dismissed claims of antitrust violations and false
advertising. She also rejected separate claims made under New
York state law.
The collectors had said they purchased the artwork from friends
of Haring, who died in 1990. His work focused on New York's
1980s street culture, often with political or social messages.
The foundation owns works by Haring valued at about $25 million
in 2011, according to Cote's 35-page decision.
The lawsuit had claimed that the foundation had rejected the
authenticity of the art works owned by the collectors in 2007
and refused to review more evidence provided later by the
collectors before stating they were fakes.
About 80 works said to be by Haring were shown in Miami in March
2013. Two days later, the foundation filed a lawsuit to shut the
exhibition down, alleging the works were counterfeits.
The show's promoter agreed to remove the works from the exhibit
and the collectors failed to sell any of them, the lawsuit
contended. Sales at the Miami show would have fetched at least
$40 million, it said.
The collectors claimed that the Haring works were effectively
unsellable in major auction houses if they were not first
certified by the foundation.
The collectors said the foundation wanted to keep the number of
authenticated Haring works low in order to increase the value of
the certified works in its possession.
The case is Bilinski et al v. The Keith Haring Foundation Inc et
al, U.S. District Court for Southern New York., No. 14-cv-1085.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Bernard Orr)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
