Grossman LLP | Former Knoedler President Ann Freedman Reaches Settlement with Fellow Art Dealer in Defamation Suit
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  • Former Knoedler President Ann Freedman Reaches Settlement with Fellow Art Dealer in Defamation Suit
    12/17/2013
    This firm’s attorneys were involved in the very first suit arising out of the infamous forgery scandal against the now-defunct Knoedler Gallery. Since then, this blog has covered ongoing developments in the strange story of a once-venerable art gallery’s involvement in the sale of dozens of paintings masquerading as works by twentieth-century masters like Pollock, Rothko, and de Kooning.  The works were in fact created by a little-known artist working in Queens, and marketed by Long Island art dealer Glafira Rosales, who has since pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges arising out of the scheme.

    As this blog discussed earlier this fall, former Knoedler president Ann Freedman—who has been named as a defendant in several suits by allegedly defrauded buyers—joined the litigation fray as a plaintiff when she sued a fellow art dealer over comments he made about her in a New York Magazine article.  The August 27 article examined Freedman’s role in the scandal, and featured interviews with Freedman in which she explained why she had believed in both Rosales’s stories and the authenticity of the works.  The article also quoted art dealer Marco Grassi, owner of Grassi Studios in Manhattan, whose comments were critical of Freedman, opining that she had been “irresponsible,” questioning whether she had engaged in adequate due diligence in connection with the works, and suggesting that she should have done more to uncover Rosales’s fraud.  Shortly after the article’s publication, Freedman sued Grassi for defamation, libel, and slander, in a lengthy complaint that outlined in painstaking detail Freedman’s efforts to verify the authenticity of the works.

    This week, it was reported that Freedman and Grassi have reached a settlement of her claims against him.  As part of the settlement, Grassi issued a retraction of the statements he made to New York Magazine, saying: “Regretfully, I made these comments without having full knowledge of the facts about Ms Freedman’s diligence, including the many years of research conducted about the provenance of the works or the many scholars, museums, conservators, and dealers to whom she had shown the works.  I therefore retract my comments and apologize for any harm they may have caused.”  Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed to the public.

    The settlement marks the end of the defamation lawsuit, which might have raised intriguing legal questions about the level of diligence owed by galleries to buyers.  Meanwhile, other litigation regarding the Knoedler will continue, as the art world continues to grapple with the fallout of a shocking scandal.