How accidental damage to frames made of corrugated cardboard elicited a $100 million lawsuit. As the expert witness for the defense, I’m pleased that The Art Newspaper recently illuminated the largest “loss in value” claim in art history. Read the full story here. In addition to this 2019 case, Peter Hastings Falk has served as expert witness in...
Author: Peter Falk (Peter Falk)
The Importance of Art Dealer-Scholars
The best of art-dealing and art historical scholarship are reinforcing, not antithetical. The eye of the art dealer-scholar comes with the ability to discern true innovation that emerged from particular periods, movements, or styles. There are numerous examples of museum curators joining with gallery owners to mount significant exhibitions. Historically, the exemplar nonpareil is Paul...
Peter Selz [1919–2019] — Et exaltatum memoriam
Peter Selz was the youngest 100-year-old I ever knew. He remained sharp as a tack. His insatiable visual appetite meant he was constantly digesting images — but he only opined when he sensed an innovative spirit. He was the exemplar of what it means to be an art historian: “It’s a profession from which one...
Managing Artists’ Collections No.2: A Deeper Assessment
This 2nd newsletter in the series, “Managing Artists’ Collections” explores the next step of management in greater depth. When an artist’s body is gone what happens to their body of work? So many late-career artists have lamented, “What’s going to happen to all my stuff when I’m gone?” Their “stuff” is, of course, the collection...
An Insider’s View on Valuing Art
We love it when our elected artists like Eugene Healy continue to find warm receptions from serious collectors. Healy’s work will be featured in Peter Hastings Falk’s illustrated talk, “An Insider’s View on Valuing Art” When: Tuesday, June 18th from 6-8 pm. The evening will start with cocktails at 6:00 pm and the talk will begin promptly...
Managing Artists’ Collections
The Starting Point for Practical Advice. Decades should not have to pass before artists or their heirs consider practical strategies to preserve and promote a life’s work and archive. The Dumpster is not a legacy option. Therefore, the big question looms: To whom can artists or their heirs turn for advice? Discoveries in American Art...
What You Never Knew About Abstraction in Native American Art
If you don’t live in the Southwest we bet you’d find it very difficult to name several significant Native American abstract artists. Go back to those years immediately following World War II and you may really be stymied. Can you name those Native American painters who moved easily among their peers in the first-generation of...
This Month’s Insider’s View: Science versus Provenance
The art world is pretty sophisticated when it comes to establishing authenticity. The first step sees the professional sellers — dealers and auctioneers — engaging a triumvirate of experts who provide stylistic interpretation, provenance, and condition reports. An art historian who is the leading expert on the artist examines the work and anoints it as...
“Bertschmann: The 1950s” at Hollis Taggart
Hollis Taggart Provides New Look at Little-Known Abstract Expressionist Painter On View through March 30, 2019 Opening Reception, March 7, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM On March 7, Hollis Taggart will open Harry Bertschmann: The 1950s, an exhibition that sheds new light on the little-known Abstract Expressionist painter Harry Bertschmann. The exhibition will feature works...
Hollis Taggart
Hollis Taggart’s mission has not wavered since he founded his gallery in 1979: “There is great art out there, beyond obvious brand names. It inspires and motivates us to bring awareness to these newly-discovered artists who warrant deeper examination.” For four decades Hollis Taggart has maintained a deep commitment to scholarship in producing the gallery’s...