(..continued)
And here are some more of the events that defined the art world in 2024:
Also Read: Art World In 2024: Part One
The Biggest Lawsuits of the Year
Law and art might seem to be strange bedfellows, but they indeed were this year. The most sensational legal battle of 2024 has to be the saga of ‘Ladies Lounge’. Created by Kirsha Kaechele at the Mona in Tasmania, the show was sued because it restricted access to men. The lower court ruled against the show, only for the Supreme Court to rule in favor.
In April, artist Mary Miss sued De Moines Art Center for their decision to destroy her outdoor installation due to maintenance costs. The court ruled a compromise that left both parties dissatisfied. Another chapter in the scandal of AI art was added in October when an artist filed a lawsuit against the copyright office for refusing copyright to his AI artwork. The work in question was the same one that won the Colorado state art fair in 2022. After the University of Arts in Philadelphia abruptly closed in June, its employees hit it with a class-action lawsuit for firing without notice.
A Rather Pale Year For The Auctions
The art market in 2024 started on a hopeful note and was on a good track until the abysmally bad fall season. As a result, the year ended as the worst since 2021. The top 10 auctions this year fetched a total of $512.6 million, a 22.3 percent decline from 2023’s similar total of $660 million. Compared to the record-breaking cumulative sales of $1.1 billion in 2022, the drop was massive.
The most expensive work sold this year was L’empire des lumières (1954) by Rene Magritte which fetched $121.1 million. While impressive, this was much lower than the most expensive work sold last year – Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) sold for $195 million.
Forgeries That Shook The Art Scene
Forgeries are part and parcel of the art world, and this year was no different. The biggest news was when the Italian police broke a pan-European forgery ring dealing in fake Picasso, Warhol, and Banksy worth $215 million. A US company called CO2Bit Technologies found itself wrapped in not one but two forgery scandals. First, it rented private space at Centre Pompidou in Paris to display a disputed Kazimir Malevich painting – both without the museum’s knowledge and without proper provenance of the work. Later, the company pulled a similar stunt at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it displayed a disputed Basquiat after renting a private space without informing the museum.
