New York Museums Move to Dismiss Artist’s ‘Implausible’ Lawsuit That Claims the Art Industry Is Rigged. The museums say they do not, in fact, benefit from the conspiracy that Robert Cenedella claims has constrained his career.
artnet News | Sarah Cascone
A quintet of New York museums are moving to dismiss a $100 million lawsuit filed against them by artist Robert Cenedella, the star of the documentary Art Bastard. Cenedella insists that the institutions are conspiring to raise prices for a group of pre-approved artists’ work while purposely excluding equally deserving artists like himself, in violation of antitrust laws.
The museums—the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art—are asking for a dismissal with prejudice, which would prevent Cenedella from refiling his case in the future. They argue that they do not, and could not, participate in a conspiracy to buoy the market for a particular set of artists, because such an arrangement would make their jobs harder—not easier…read more
Image: Robert Cenedella. Photo by Krista Kennell, ©Patrick McMullan.