For more than two decades, Gregory Reed, an entertainment lawyer in Detroit, has been collecting materials that document black history. His ultimate goal, he says, is to put the materials to work in educational exhibits.
But an early foray into lending his collection turned litigious last month when his foundation sued the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, accusing it of damaging 15 sheets from unpublished portions of Alex Haley's original manuscript of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
The documents, which were on display at the museum for about five years starting in 1997, went from white to brownish-yellow, and have a white stripe from the band holding them down, Reed said. He wants the museum to reimburse him US$168,000 for the loss in value to the documents, which were appraised at US$285,000 before the loan.
PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
The museum disputes its responsibility for the damage, said Mark Shreve, a lawyer for the museum. But, he said, if a payment is to be made, the documents should be restored first and then a determination made on whether there is any loss in value.
Reed said: "The lesson is, you take greater precautions." More people are lending out art, he said, and they "need to know the ins and outs from a business side."
Art values have been escalating rapidly, particularly for contemporary works. And two high-profile accidents this year have called attention to the possibility that art and collectibles can be damaged. Stephen A. Wynn, the casino developer, accidentally put his elbow through a Picasso he had just sold for US$139 million (killing the deal), and a guard dog in England mauled a valuable collection of teddy bears, including one that had been owned by Elvis Presley.
The situation is further complicated by newcomers to collecting and changes in the way collections are used.
"Art is being looked at as the newest asset class," said Elizabeth von Habsburg, president of Gurr Johns Masterson, appraisers and fine-art consultants. "Everyone seems to be collecting these days, and different people seem to collect different things. Hedge funders are collecting primarily contemporary art and photographs. Russians are repatriating Russian works of art. Chinese are buying contemporary Chinese art and anything Imperial."
An increasing number of art owners are viewing their purchases as investments — and are putting them to work by lending them to galleries or museums with an eye toward enhancing their value.
The value of some art has surged as much as 500 percent in the last two years, according to insurance brokers, so owners should consider whether their works are adequately covered.
"Unfortunately, that's kind of a full-time occupation these days, given the fact that prices are increasing so rapidly," said William Ehrlich, a New York City real estate developer who has been collecting art for more than four decades. "We use an inventory system that allows us to keep track of things. When prices seem to ratchet up, we will ask for updated appraisals from dealers or auction houses or such."
Ehrlich said he was finding greater scrutiny by insurance companies in documenting their exposure.
"I just had an experience where something had gone up dramatically, and we had to have it reinsured," he said. "I submitted something from a dealer, and they immediately questioned whether the dealer was a certified appraiser."
While those in the art world may be on top of what's happening, owners of just a few pieces may not be checking whether they have enough insurance coverage.
Brian Frasca, an insurance broker at the New England Brokerage Corp in Providence, Rhode Island, told of a new client who bought a work of art for a million dollars in 1991. The piece had been insured under a homeowner's policy, which seemed adequate, providing about US$2.5 million of property coverage. But the work was recently appraised at US$10 million.
"We had a US$10 million painting 90 percent underinsured," Frasca said.
Insurance companies typically request appraisals every one to three years on pieces valued at more than US$75,000, but some collectors get appraisals every six months because of the market's volatility, he said.
There are many approaches to insuring fine art and collections, but a typical policy may now provide 150 percent of the insured value, to provide an inflation guard. The typical rate for such insurance is about US$1.20 per US$1,000 in value, according to several insurance brokers.
Some owners balk, however, at keeping appraisals updated.
"One of the most difficult things I have to deal with is trying to convince collectors they should get updated valuations," said Dorit Straus, worldwide fine art manager for the Chubb Group.
A much greater problem, insurance specialists said, is underinsurance on the part of collectors. "The problem is convincing people that anything is going to happen," said Claire Marmion, director of art collection management at the AIG Private Client Group. "They don't think the teddy bear will be eaten by the guard dog or that the elbow will go through the Picasso."
But anything can happen — sometimes where it may be least expected.
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
A sultry sea mist blankets New Taipei City as I pedal from Tamsui District (淡水) up the coast. This might not be ideal beach weather but it’s fine weather for riding –– the cloud cover sheltering arms and legs from the scourge of the subtropical sun. The dedicated bikeway that connects downtown Taipei with the west coast of New Taipei City ends just past Fisherman’s Wharf (漁人碼頭) so I’m not the only cyclist jostling for space among the SUVs and scooters on National Highway No. 2. Many Lycra-clad enthusiasts are racing north on stealthy Giants and Meridas, rounding “the crown coast”
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and