ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Museum of Artwork and the property of its former director, who died final month, have agreed to drop lawsuits in opposition to one another that arose from the 2022 FBI seizure of two dozen cast work that have been falsely attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The museum mentioned in a press release Tuesday that the dismissal ends all litigation between it and the property of its former director, Aaron De Groft, who died Jan. 18. The museum had accused De Groft of not fulfilling his fiduciary obligation to the museum by championing the exhibit, whereas he claimed that his firing was unjust.
“It is OMA’s sincere hope that this step will allow OMA to continue forward with its mission in partnership with its valued constituencies,” the museum mentioned.
De Groft negotiated to have the museum be the primary establishment to show greater than two dozen artworks mentioned to have been present in an outdated storage locker many years after Basquiat’s 1988 dying from a drug overdose.
There have been persistent questions in regards to the authenticity of the works, culminating within the FBI’s 2022 raid of the museum. In 2023, former Los Angeles auctioneer Michael Barzman agreed to plead responsible to federal expenses of constructing false statements to the FBI, admitting that he and an confederate had created the faux paintings and falsely attributed the work to Basquiat.
