MICHIGAN. Park West Gallery, which says it sells 300,000 works annually and earns a lot more than $300m in annual art sales revenue, including through auctions
In line with the complaint, filed in state court in Oakland County, Michigan, on 23 December, the gallery has refused to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase prices allegedly collectively paid from the plaintiffs for functions by Dalí, Rembrandt and others. The art “was later found by experts with the idea to be fake or have forged signatures, or be heavily overpriced and misrepresented as bargains and investments”, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Kaufman Payton & Chapa of Farmington Hills, Michigan, said in a statement on 8 January.
Park West, which is based in Southfield, Michigan, and is headed by Albert Scaglione, dismisses the allegations as false and malicious, and says that the suit is meritless.
“Over the past 40 years, Park West Gallery has served a lot more than 1.Two million satisfied customers,” the gallery said in the statement on 9 January. “We stand behind the authenticity of all things we sell.” The gallery said the lawsuit was “organised to advance the company interests” of your organisation, Artwork Registry, which Park West sued for defamation in Florida and Michigan in April 2008, citing material around the FAR website which is critical from the gallery. FAR’s assertions are “baseless,” says Rodger Young, the gallery’s lawyer in Southfield, Michigan.
Inside the defamation complaint, Park West says that FAR and it is founder, Theresa Franks, have engaged in the “smear campaign” wanting to harm its business relationships with customers and it is reputation. The gallery is seeking damages and an injunction against further defamatory statements.
FAR describes itself as offering “advocacy to victims of art fraud and abuse”, and offers members something of tagging and registering art with assorted art painting techniques
Park West, which is based in Southfield, Michigan, and is headed by Albert Scaglione, dismisses the allegations as false and malicious, and says that the suit is meritless.
“Over the past 40 years, Park West Gallery has served a lot more than 1.Two million satisfied customers,” the gallery said in the statement on 9 January. “We stand behind the authenticity of all things we sell.” The gallery said the lawsuit was “organised to advance the company interests” of your organisation, Artwork Registry, which Park West sued for defamation in Florida and Michigan in April 2008, citing material around the FAR website which is critical from the gallery. FAR’s assertions are “baseless,” says Rodger Young, the gallery’s lawyer in Southfield, Michigan.
Inside the defamation complaint, Park West says that FAR and it is founder, Theresa Franks, have engaged in the “smear campaign” wanting to harm its business relationships with customers and it is reputation. The gallery is seeking damages and an injunction against further defamatory statements.
FAR describes itself as offering “advocacy to victims of art fraud and abuse”, and offers members something of tagging and registering art with assorted art painting techniques
Eight from the plaintiffs inside the Michigan lawsuit are FAR members. Jonathan Schwartz, who represents the ten plaintiffs, and is also a lawyer for much and 2 individuals named in the defamation cases, told The Art Newspaper that the defamation suits were attempts by Park West to “prevent our clients from voicing legitimate criticism of Park West’s allegedly questionable business practices, and actions”. He said his clients “refuse to become bullied into submission by Park West”, and would show that “everything they may wrote, or uttered continues to be the entire truth, and nothing however the truth”.
In June 2008, Park West was sued inside a consumer class action suit in federal court in Florida by David Bouverat, who says he bought art from Park West over a cruise. Mr Bouverat, who alleges violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act as well as other claims, says that appraisals the gallery provided were according to Park West Gallery’s price for the art, not a replacement price “from some reputable retail art gallery”. The case is continuing, based on Mr Bouverat’s lawyer, Shawn Khorrami of La.
Inside the Michigan case, the ten plaintiffs allege they paid amounts which range from $7,000 to over $400,000 to Park West to buy more than one works represented being by Goya, Marc Chagall, Dürer, Tomasz Rut and other artists, purportedly including etchings by Rembrandt and lithographs by Salvador Dalí. The transactions included purchases at cruise liner auctions and also at Park West’s Michigan gallery, the allegations say. The plaintiffs say which they received certificates of authenticity plus a number of cases appraisals, and were also told in a number of cases the art would increase in value with time. Instead, the complaint alleges, most of it is “worthless”, purportedly including in one case “images taken from an art form magazine” and in other cases “digital prints which are nothing more than glorified posters”. The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs usually are not sophisticated art clients who want different painting techniques, and relied around the representations the gallery made to them.
On the list of plaintiffs, lawyers Sharon Day and Julian Howard of London say which they purchased a pair of Dalí’s “Divine Comedy” prints from Park West and paid $422,601.50 in March 2008 for your art, with Royal Caribbean Cruise line receiving a share of the money. They've also sued the cruise line. The plaintiffs allege that while Park West provided an appraisal of $510,000 for your art, experts allegedly determined in December that the series was worthless and that the signatures were faked.
The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction preventing the gallery’s sale of “allegedly signed Salvador Dalí lithographs” and resales from the art, that they can dispute. The complaint alleges violations with the Michigan Warranty in Fine Arts Statute and Consumer Protection Act, fraud and breach of contract.
Park West’s response in case was to be filed towards the end of January once we went to press.
In June 2008, Park West was sued inside a consumer class action suit in federal court in Florida by David Bouverat, who says he bought art from Park West over a cruise. Mr Bouverat, who alleges violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act as well as other claims, says that appraisals the gallery provided were according to Park West Gallery’s price for the art, not a replacement price “from some reputable retail art gallery”. The case is continuing, based on Mr Bouverat’s lawyer, Shawn Khorrami of La.
Inside the Michigan case, the ten plaintiffs allege they paid amounts which range from $7,000 to over $400,000 to Park West to buy more than one works represented being by Goya, Marc Chagall, Dürer, Tomasz Rut and other artists, purportedly including etchings by Rembrandt and lithographs by Salvador Dalí. The transactions included purchases at cruise liner auctions and also at Park West’s Michigan gallery, the allegations say. The plaintiffs say which they received certificates of authenticity plus a number of cases appraisals, and were also told in a number of cases the art would increase in value with time. Instead, the complaint alleges, most of it is “worthless”, purportedly including in one case “images taken from an art form magazine” and in other cases “digital prints which are nothing more than glorified posters”. The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs usually are not sophisticated art clients who want different painting techniques, and relied around the representations the gallery made to them.
On the list of plaintiffs, lawyers Sharon Day and Julian Howard of London say which they purchased a pair of Dalí’s “Divine Comedy” prints from Park West and paid $422,601.50 in March 2008 for your art, with Royal Caribbean Cruise line receiving a share of the money. They've also sued the cruise line. The plaintiffs allege that while Park West provided an appraisal of $510,000 for your art, experts allegedly determined in December that the series was worthless and that the signatures were faked.
The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction preventing the gallery’s sale of “allegedly signed Salvador Dalí lithographs” and resales from the art, that they can dispute. The complaint alleges violations with the Michigan Warranty in Fine Arts Statute and Consumer Protection Act, fraud and breach of contract.
Park West’s response in case was to be filed towards the end of January once we went to press.
In September 2008, the gallery announced an “enhanced” returns policy, offering price refunds within 40 days or merchandise exchanges within 40 months.
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