The Orlando Museum of Art has dropped all lawsuits involving its former director’s estate following the explosive FBI investigation into 25 counterfeit paintings falsely attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat. This decision ends a bitter legal clash sparked by the museum’s 2022 exhibit, which unraveled into one of the most infamous art forgery scandals in recent history.
Former director Aaron De Groft, who died in January, negotiated the controversial exhibition of artworks allegedly discovered in a storage locker decades after Basquiat’s death. The museum accused De Groft of breaching his fiduciary duties, while his estate claimed wrongful termination.
It is OMA’s sincere hope that this step will allow OMA to continue forward with its mission,the institution stated.
The FBI seized the paintings in 2022 after experts raised alarms about inconsistencies in the artworks’ provenance. Key revelations include:
- Former Los Angeles auctioneer Michael Barzman admitted to creating the fakes with an accomplice
- Brushwork and materials inconsistent with Basquiat’s 1980s-era practices
- Fabricated backstories about the storage locker’s ownership
Barzman’s 2023 guilty plea exposed a scheme targeting high-value art markets. The case underscores vulnerabilities in authentication processes for posthumous artwork. Museum trustees have since implemented stricter vetting protocols, though the scandal has left lasting reputational damage.
As institutions grapple with sophisticated forgery tactics, this resolution allows the Orlando Museum to refocus on community partnerships. However, questions persist about oversight failures that enabled the ‘Basquiat’ exhibition to proceed despite early red flags.