JUDGE TOSSES OUT SUIT AGAINST HARING FOUNDATION

A Manhattan federal court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Elizabeth Bilinski and nineteen other collectors who together alleged that the Keith Haring Foundation was violating antitrust laws when it refused to authenticate 111 works, according to the Art Newspaper’s Laura Gilbert.

In 2007, Bilinski submitted works that she and the other plaintiffs had acquired from Haring’s friend Angelo Moreno to the foundation—which deemed the pieces “not authentic.” No reason was given for the assessment, and the foundation stuck by its decision even after Bilinski sent in what she felt was additional evidence of authenticity, including a statement from Moreno.

In the suit, the collectors said that Sotheby’s experts believed the works were authentic, but the auction house wouldn’t sell them without the foundation’s go-ahead. Arguing that the foundation’s actions violated antitrust laws, the plaintiffs alleged that it conspired with “allies” to increase the value of its own Haring works.

The judge didn’t buy that argument, writing: “The decision by any individual entity not to sell artwork that may not be authentic is an act consistent with lawful, independent action.”