Fake Basquiat Payout?
Insurance companies deny a $19.7 million claim over seized fake Basquiat paintings, citing no value in counterfeits.
Two insurance companies are rejecting a $19.7 million claim over more than two dozen paintings falsely attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat. The artworks were seized by the FBI in 2022 from the Orlando Museum of Art after being exposed as counterfeits created by former auctioneer Michael Barzman and an accomplice.
The owners of the paintings maintain they purchased and loaned the works to the museum in good faith, arguing that their insurance policies should cover the loss regardless of authenticity. They claim the insurers, Liberty Mutual and Great American Insurance, never verified the artworks’ legitimacy before insuring them.
However, the insurance companies are pushing back in court, arguing that counterfeit works hold no insurable value and that there is no valid loss. "Defendants do not have any valid claim to proceeds from this ‘loss’ since there is no loss to begin with," court filings state.
The case pits questions of insurance coverage against art authenticity, reigniting debates about the fallout from one of the art world’s most notorious forgery scandals.
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