A lawsuit was filed by the Orlando Museum of Art (Website) on Monday, August 14, against its former director, Aaron De Groft.
The lawsuit accuses De Groft and the five co-owners of the now infamous fake Basquiat paintings of attempting to profit by exhibiting works that were falsely attributed to pop-culture icon, Jean-Michele Basquiat, an incident that landed the museum in hot water with the FBI and a subsequent raid in June 2022.
At the time, De Groft et al claimed that the paintings were recovered from a Los Angeles storage unit, after being placed there back in 1982 when Basquiat was living in the area.
Questions were raised when a FedEx brand expert shared that some of the cardboard used for the paintings featured typeface that wasn’t used by the shipping company until over a decade later in 1994, which is six years after Basquiat passed away.
The lawsuit was first reported by Brett Sokol and Matt Stevens for The New York Times, where they shared a statement from the museum claiming that De Groft was promised a “significant cut of the proceeds” from the eventual sale of the artworks in exchange for exhibiting and therefore legitimizing the pieces.
De Groft was fired in June 2022, which we told you about HERE, when his emails with art expert Jordana Moore Saggese, Professor of American Art and the former Editor-in-Chief for the College Art Association’s Art Journal, became public via the FBI investigation. De Groft had hired Moore Saggese to verify the paintings prior to exhibition and when she raised concerns she was told the following.
“You want us to put out there you got $60 grand to write this? Ok then. Shut up. You took the money. Stop being holier than thou. Do your academic thing and stay in your limited lane.”
– AARON DE GROFT, FORMER DIRECTOR OF ORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART – AS REPORTED BY ORLANDO WEEKLY
De Groft told the Times that he “categorically denied” the accusations in the lawsuit and that any offer of a kickback was meant for the museum to help pay for the exhibition not for his personal use.
The museum’s suit accuses De Groft of conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud, and it is seeking a juried trial and restitution for damages incurred against its reputation. Orlando Sentinel‘s Matt Palm recently published a thorough examination of the 77-page lawsuit which you can read HERE.
