Relates to consignments of works of art to art merchants by artists and their successors in interest

1 Co-sponsor

• Andrew J. Lanza

BILL NUMBER:S4988B

Title of bill

An act to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to consignments of works of art to art merchants by artists and their successors in interest

Purpose or general idea of bill

To provide increased protections for a consignor or his or her heirs when, their works of art are under the fiduciary care of a consignee or art merchant and to mandate that such works of art shall never become the property of the consignee, particularly when a consignee is paving a creditor's claim.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 amends subdivisions 20 and 21 of section 11.01 of the arts and cultural affairs law, subdivision 21 as renumbered by chapter 940 of the laws of 1990, are renumbered subdivisions 21 and 22 and a new subdivision 20 is added.

Section 2 amends section 12.01 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as added by chapter 849 of the laws of 1984 and paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 as added by chapter 675 of the laws of 1995.

Section 3 sets forth the effective date.

Justification

The current law governing artist-art merchant relationships does not go far enough to protect the artist and his or her heirs from having the works of art they consign to art merchants taken from them without any financial compensation when the galleries of such merchants are mismanaged and or when the art merchant decides to use the funds gained from the sale of a work of art for reasons other than to compensate the artist. For instance, in past bankruptcy proceedings, some art merchants, as the consignees of the works of art, have used the proceeds from the sales of such works to payoff claims of creditors, violating their fiduciary duties to protect the consignor's work and to compensate him or her when the work is sold.

Galleries receive compensation from an artist in the form of a fixed fee or a percentage of the work of art when such work is sold. This legislation would ensure that the law is clear in prohibiting galleries from unrightfully taking works of art from artists and not properly compensating them.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become law and shall apply to all contracts or arrangements entered into, extended or renewed after such effective date.