Iron Ark PLLC · Practice
Art & authentication litigation.
Authenticity · attribution · art fraud · provenance · foundations
Iron Ark PLLC represents collectors, estates, dealers, and galleries when the authenticity, attribution, title, or value of an artwork is challenged. Typical matters include disputes with artist foundations and authentication boards, fraud and misrepresentation claims over private and auction sales, consignment and dealer disputes, and title and provenance claims. Brian C. Kerr has litigated high-profile authenticity fights, including the antitrust and fraud litigation involving the Andy Warhol Foundation and its authentication board – chronicled in Richard Dorment's Warhol After Warhol (2023) – and the 2014 collectors' suit over works attributed to Keith Haring. He has also taught the legal issues in buying and selling art as Practising Law Institute faculty. Art cases turn on documents most litigators never read closely: invoices, consignment agreements, certificates, catalogue entries, and the provenance chain. We take strong claims on contingency and price other matters as flat fees by phase.
What we handle
Authenticity and attribution disputes, including challenges to certificates and prior opinions.
Claims involving artist foundations, authentication boards, and catalogue raisonné committees.
Fraud and misrepresentation in private sales, dealer transactions, and auctions.
Consignment, gallery, and dealer disputes, including unpaid proceeds and undisclosed markups.
Title and provenance claims, including disputed ownership and chain-of-title gaps.
Warranty, rescission, and damages claims when a work's value collapses.
Brian's art-law record
Authenticity and antitrust litigation involving the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board (S.D.N.Y.), chronicled in Richard Dorment's Warhol After Warhol (Picador / Pegasus Books, 2023).
2014 collectors' suit over the authentication of works attributed to Keith Haring (S.D.N.Y.).
Faculty, Practising Law Institute – “Art of the Art Deal: An Introduction to the Key Legal Issues in the Buying and Selling of Art.”
Host and presenter, NeueHouse – “Is it Real?” (May 7, 2015), on the role of science in art authentication.
How it is priced
Collectors and estates with strong claims against a seller, dealer, or foundation that can pay may qualify for contingency or a hybrid structure. Other matters are priced as flat fees by phase.
When the network comes in
Typical additions are conservators and forensic scientists, provenance researchers, art-market valuation experts, and foreign counsel when a work, seller, or archive sits abroad. Network counsel work on assignments the lead team defines, and their work is reviewed before it goes out. Their cost sits inside the fee structure agreed at engagement – and on contingency matters, network attorneys join us on contingency.
Coverage
When the work is questioned, the paper trail answers.
Discuss your matter →