A painting by the modern master Robert Motherwell which was presumed stolen for the last four decades has been returned to the charitable foundation he established before his death. The Dedalus Foundation — f/k/a The Motherwell Foundation — was able to recover the missing piece, Untitled, through the combined efforts of Pryor Cashman's Art Law Group and the FBI.
Perry M. Amsellem, Co-Chair of the Art Law Group and longtime counsel to Dedalus, worked closely with the Artist Foundation to gather critical evidence which established chain of title to the missing painting. Amsellem then assembled the evidence in a sworn affidavit and persuaded special agents in the FBI's art crimes unit to seek a search and seizure warrant for the painting, which was ultimately recovered and returned to Dedalus on July 12, 2018.
Now estimated to be worth over $1 million, Untitled was discovered in a garage in upstate New York in 2017.
"I am genuinely honored to be able to assist the Dedalus Foundation in recovering this lost Motherwell piece," Amsellem said. "This feat would not have been possible without the able assistance and hard work of the FBI with whom I closely worked to secure the necessary evidence to seize and repossess Untitled."
News of the painting's recovery was reported by numerous outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and ArtNet.
More About Amsellem's Practice
A founder of Pryor Cashman's Art Law Group, Amsellem represents galleries, collectors, foundations and other nonprofits on a broad range of art law matters. His counsel has proved invaluable in cases like the Knoedler scandal, where he helped his clients expose a massive art fraud and recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Amsellem frequently lectures on topics involving art law and cultural heritage crimes.
To learn more about his work, please visit here.
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