September Estate Analyst

Robert L. Moshman (Attorney, New York and New Jersey) recently published his article entitled, Viva L’Art! Estates of Artists and Art Collectors Attempt to Preserve Treasures, The Estate Analyst (Sept. 2012). The introduction from his article is provided below:

You are looking at the most expensive painting ever sold. Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players  (one of five in a series from the 1890s and the only one that is privately owned) was sold to Qatar’s royal family in 2011 for $250 million. 

One might therefore presume that the Barnes Foundation possessing 69 Cézannes and hundreds of other masterpieces should be in pretty good financial shape. Yet the Barnes Foundation’s design flaws ultimately resulted in the intervention of courts and politicians to change the Foundation’s original direction. 

For artists and art collectors, the possession of fine art represents unique opportunities and challenges. Here we examine notable art sales and collections, as well as the financial planning issues faced by all art estates.