We wrote earlier about the COVID-19 shutdown threat to gallery solvency, and possible creditor claims to works on consignment. Now two months into confinement, the threat to galleries is real with a quarter of Los Angeles fine art galleries responding to the Los Angeles Times April 20, 2020 Fine Art Gallery Survey that they would face permanent closure…

As COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 slithers insidiously among us, and fine art galleries, auction houses and fine art storage facilities shutter, the fine art market finds itself under considerable pressure. With no end in sight, the financial implications for art market professionals could be dire. Arnet reports that top-tier galleries are already implementing furloughs or layoffs, with Lévy Gorvy and…

Catching a shooting star is one of the joys of collecting fine art. You catch an artist early, and watch them go from obscurity to adulation, along the way riding the wave of popularity and reveling in your talent-spotting brilliance. If you miss the opportunity, the curve of popularity accelerates quickly, the market takes hold,…

A Delaware bankruptcy court (the “Court”) recently considered conflicting security interest claims of (i) a vendor that manufactured and consigned goods to a merchant that later filed for bankruptcy, and (ii) a secured lender that had a perfected lien on inventory and proceeds. The decision has important lessons relating to consignments. Summary The consignor failed…