Hot Off the Press: Breaking Art News

Legacy of Kenneth M. Freeman Protected by Fine Art Registry Patented ID System

Having one traveling museum exhibition, Artist at Work: The Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy currently at the Booth Western Art Museum in Atlanta, and sending a second museum exhibition on the road in June 2010 named Portraits of the West: The Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy, Bonnie Adams, curator of the Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy Collection, had some unique challenges to make certain the collection was protected. Bonnie Adams decided to protect the priceless originals and the authorized limited edition prints using the Fine Art Registry® patented, secure tagging and registration system.

Robert Descharnes Recognized as World's Foremost Expert on and Defender of the Works of Salvador Dali by Real Circulo Artistico of Barcelona Gold Medal Award

On December 17, 2009 the Real Circulo Artístico of Barcelona (Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona – RCAB), Spain, issued a proclamation awarding French photographer Robert Descharnes, long term friend and associate of Salvador Dali and expert in his work, its coveted Gold Medal "For the merit which he displays, the greatest authority in the world in the knowledge and defense of the work of the artist Salvador Dali i Domench." The award was accepted on Robert Descharnes’ behalf by his son Nicolas at the RCAB's headquarters in Barcelona on December 27th 2009 and acknowledged in a video addressed to the RCAB by Robert Descharnes who was unable to attend the presentation in person.

Four Judgments Against Park West Gallery for Fraudulent Sale of Fake and Overpriced Art in Lawsuits Filed by Their Customers

Four judgments against Park West Gallery, sued by customers who claimed they had been defrauded by the Michigan art gallery, were handed down by the Honorable Nanci J. Grant, Circuit Court Judge of the Oakland County Michigan Circuit Court today, awarding the Plaintiffs damages of close to $9,000 against Park West for artwork they purchased at art auctions on cruise ships or by direct sale by Park West Gallery in Michigan and dismissing with prejudice multi-million counter-claims by Park West against their customers.

Scandalous Revelations from Current and Former Park West Gallery Insiders

A reliable source emailed Fine Art Registry after reading Litigation Update No. 5, and specifically the section in the update where we reported that Park West Gallery's own lawyer had referred to Park West Gallery artwork as "shit" while at recent depositions in NYC at the end of 2009.

Park West Gallery Drags Royal Caribbean into Its Cesspit of Controversy, Litigation Update #7

The latest information and exciting developments regarding the barn burner litigation between Fine Art Registry and Park West Gallery. We also report here on the continuing sensational events swirling around the victims' lawsuit against Park West Gallery, and how the recent shocking Michigan Court of Appeals decision and Order weighs heavily in favor of the victims.

Lawyers dismiss Park West Gallery libel case, reports The Art Newspaper

On January 6, 2010 The Art Newspaper published an article about the Sharon Day and Julian Howard lawsuit against Park West Gallery, entitled Lawyers dismiss Park West libel case. However non-binding judgement means part of action will still go ahead.

Park West Gallery Lawyers' Hasty Court Filing Throws Open Pandora's Box, Litigation Update #6

You would think that with all the money Park West Gallery and its CEO Albert Scaglione have made off the backs of innocent victims that he would be able to afford the cream of the legal crop to defend him and his gallery against the mounting nationwide litigation being filed against them. Okay, if not the cream of the legal crop, then at least halfway skilled legal counsel with the sense of a walnut to perform even the most basic of due diligence BEFORE filing public documents.

Open Letter on the Expertise of the Works of Dali

Twenty years after the death of the surrealist master (January 1989), a second wave of prints is creating a scandal. During the eighties, an outbreak of fake prints invaded the market. Robert Descharnes, at the head of the Demart organization, founded at the request of the artist (1986), led the war in close collaboration with the police.

Park West Gallery Presents Destino

But Do You Know What You Are Buying When You Buy the Destino Prints from Park West Gallery? Destino is the name of a short, animated film produced by Disney Studios, based on a collaboration between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney. Reproductions of some of the artwork on which the film is based has been turned into a series of prints, sold in limited editions of 1035 of each print mainly by Park West Gallery for thousands of dollars per print.

Michigan Appeals Court Orders Royal Caribbean Cruises Back Into Lawsuit as Co-Defendants with Park West Gallery, Sued by Dissatisfied Customers

An order issued by the Michigan Court of Appeals on 11 December 2009, effectively brought Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. as co-defendants with Park West Gallery, back into a court case from which they had been dismissed. The complaint against Royal Caribbean, Park West Gallery, its CEO Albert Scaglione, and gallery director Morris Shapiro, was filed in December 2008 by dissatisfied customers of Park West Gallery and Royal Caribbean cruises through the plaintiffs' Michigan attorneys, Kaufman, Payton and Chapa. It alleged violation of Michigan's warranty in fine arts statute, fraud, breach of contract, violation of the Michigan consumer protection act, violation of the Michigan art multiples sales act, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy and unjust enrichment.

Park West Gallery Up Against the Ropes and More Remarkable Developments, Litigation Update #5

The February 2010 scheduled legal boxing match between Park West Gallery and Fine Art Registry® was recently cancelled by the Michigan Federal Court. It is currently on the court's trailing docket calendar, and is expected to be reset sometime in March of 2010. Though Fine Art Registry has been ready to go head to head in the legal ring with the bully, Park West Gallery, since the originally scheduled trial date in October, this second in a row of welcome delays provides Fine Art Registry with additional time to further expose the gallery's continued bad business practices. To this end, we will in the immediate future begin with the release of a new investigative report on the Park West Gallery Destino collection.

Park West Gallery "Throws in the Towel" in Defamation Case Against Two Customers Who Sued the Gallery for Fraud

On November 30th, 2009, Hon. Nanci J. Grant, Circuit Judge of Oakland, State of Michigan, ordered the dismissal with prejudice of Park West Gallery's Counter-Complaint against Counter-Defendants Julian Howard and Sharon Day after Park West Gallery attorneys approached counsel for Day and Howard, to announce the gallery's voluntary dismissal of the case (Case No. 08-096952-CZ).