Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pre-members

Regarding the recent decision discussed here, Josh Baer wonders how it's possible that the Basquiat Authentication committee could possibly have told Christie's to pull the work from auction in 1990 when the committee wasn't formed until 1994. I haven't seen the complaint, but, in the Judge's decision, the issue is finessed by describing the allegation to be that "two members of the Basquiat Committee had previously viewed the Painting" -- in other words, two people who would eventually become members of the Committee, though, the Committee not yet having been formed, they were not members at the time they viewed it.