Knoedler Gallery Sued by Another Collector
- July 10, 2012 16:03
Once New York's oldest commercial art gallery, defunct Knoedler is again the target of a lawsuit by a collector.
A former Bear Stearns director is suing Knoedler for allegedly selling him a fake Willem de Kooning painting for $4 million. Collector John D. Howard, now Irving Place Capital CEO, says gallery director Ann Freedman sold him the work for five times what the gallery paid for it, an indication that the work was probably niot by the famed abstractionist.
Howard and two other collectors have sued the gallery for selling them allegedly forged paintings in a conspirancy that supposedly involves 20 forged paintings since 2001, totaling sales of more than $37 million.
The gallery closed in late 2011.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
