A bitter art-world legal battle that has been making its way through the New York courts for five years might finally be going to trial. ARTKABINETT social network for fine art collectors always recommends thorough investigation of "provenance" before purchasing an expensive work.
The poet, photographer and one-time Andy Warhol acolyte Gerard Malanga (pictured right) filed suit in 2005 against the artist John Chamberlain, contending that Mr. Chamberlain sold a 1967 Warhol silk-screen painting that did not belong to him and that he knew was not a real Warhol.
Mr. Chamberlain has denied both claims and the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board ruled in 2000 that the piece -- "315 Johns," a series of images of Mr. Chamberlain arranged in a large grid -- was genuine.
But Mr. Malanga, who is asking for the return of the canvases or more than $250,000 in damages, contends that Warhol never knew about the work.
He said he and two friends cranked it out themselves in 1971 in a studio in Great Barrington, Mass., as an homage to Warhol a year after Mr. Malanga left Warhol's Factory in Manhattan.
Over the years, Mr. Malanga said, he lost track of the painting (shown here) and it ended up ended up in Mr. Chamberlain's TriBeCa loft.
Mr. Chamberlain's request to have the case dismissed was denied by a New York State Supreme Court judge in 2008 and an appeal of that decision was rejected by the stateís Appellate Division in 2010.
A second request for dismissal was denied in December and Mr. Malangaís lawyer, Peter R. Stern, said that he now expects the court to set a date for a trial to begin sometime within the next two months.
