Sunday, March 27, 2011

Overpaying for a picture of a buffalo

The Wall Street Journal offers this article about a New Mexico lawsuit by Gateway co-founder Norman Waitt and Gerald Peters, an art dealer.  The suit alleges that Peters sold Waitt a Samuel Seymour painting called "Buffalo Standing in a River" for about six times its actual market value.  The defense is that Waitt just has buyer's remorse, and that the market for the painting went away during the recession.

Mr. Peters claims that the art was priced fairly and that Mr. Waitt had his "art assistant" with him when he made the purchase.  The case, which is filed as breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and consumer protection claim leads to some interesting questions.  Waitt has not alleged that Peters lied about the authenticity or title to the art, so the case is strictly about if the sale was "fair".  Do galleries have a special duty to their clients to value pieces fairly, or should a buyer of a million plus dollar piece of art be assumed to be sophisticated enough to determine the value of the piece on their own?

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