Settlement reached over Robert Indiana’s estate—paving way for planned museum in artist's home in Maine
Under the agreement, the Morgan Art Foundation will continue to promote the Pop artist's work in museums and on the market
14th June 2021 22:56 BST
The artist Robert Indiana with one of his best-known images in Vinalhaven, Maine © Joel Greenberg
Ending a large part of the ongoing legal battle over the legacy of the artist Robert Indiana, who died in 2018, a settlement has been reached between the artist’s estate, the Morgan Art Foundation, which fabricated and sold Indiana’s work for decades, and the artist’s caretaker. The terms of the agreement have not been released, but the deal clears the way for a planned museum to be constructed in the artist’s former home on the island of Vinalhaven, in Maine and for his work to be promoted in museums and on the market.
“We’ve done a lot of good stuff, but it’s overshadowed by the litigation,”Larry Sterrs
- Just days
- before Indiana’s
- death in 2018,
- the Morgan Art Foundation,
- Indiana’s representative
- since the 1990s and the owner of
- the artist’s famous LOVE trademark
- filed a lawsuit in New York against the artist’s long-time assistant, Jamie Thomas,
and an art publisher, Michael McKenzie. The Morgan says the pair exploited Indiana towards the end of his life, producing dubious works in his name and isolating him from friends. While the settlement ends the foundation’s complaints against Thomas, its suit against McKenzie continues. He told the New York Times that he is also open to a reaching an agreement with the estate and foundation, adding of the current settlement: “I can take this apart”.
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