A Florida art museum has filed a lawsuit more than a year after it mounted an exhibition of paintings by the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that federal investigators determined to be fake.
The Orlando Museum of Art said it is suing the people behind the exhibition “Heroes & Monsters,” which purportedly featured never-before-seen works by Basquiat. The FBI seized more than two dozen paintings in the show in June 2022 amid a conspiracy and wire fraud investigation in connection with the artwork.
“OMA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars — and unwittingly staked its reputation — on exhibiting the now-admittedly fake paintings,” the complaint states. “Consequently, cleaning up the aftermath created by the Defendants has cost OMA even more. OMA was placed on probation by the American Alliance of Museums and its 99-year legacy was shattered. OMA is entitled to legal redress for these harms.”
In a statement, the museum said it “seeks to hold responsible the people the Museum believes knowingly misrepresented the works’ authenticity and provenance.” The lawsuit, filed Monday in the Circuit Court of Orange County, Florida, includes fraud, conspiracy and breach of contract among its counts and is seeking damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
