Judge Throws Out Judd Foundation Suit Over Wrecked Sculpture

New York’s Supreme Court hasdismisseda casefiledby the Judd Foundation against a pair of galleries over allegations that they returned a loaned work in unsalable condition. The foundation, which maintains the Marfa, Texas, and New York City studios of American Minimalist artistDonald Juddand oversees his legacy, in 2022 sued the New York–based Tina Kim Gallery and the Seoul- and Busan-based Kukje Gallery, claiming that they had accepted a Judd sculpture on consignment in 2015 and returned it ruined three years later. The suit alleged that the galleries, which are owned by members of the same family and are jointly operated, neglected to mention the harm to the work on returning it, with conservators subsequently discovering the injury.

At issue was Judd’s 1991Untitled, from his “Menziken” series, a typically austere group of boxes made from anodized aluminum and translucent Plexiglas. The court filing noted that the work requires careful handling and that “any fingerprints on the anodized aluminum surface must be removed quickly or over time the oils in the fingerprints can react with the surface and leave permanent, disfiguring, irreversible marks.” Such marks were discovered on the work following its time in the galleries’ possession, during which it failed to sell. A consignment agreement shows that the sculpture was priced at $850,000; on its being returned to the Judd Foundation, officials there filed an insurance claim on the “irreparably” damaged work and received $680,000 from the insurer, or 80 percent of the work’s value. The suit—initially filed in Texas federal court but dismissed in August 2022 for being outside of that state’s jurisdiction—sought the remaining $170,000 from Tina Kim Gallery and Kukje Gallery, on the grounds that the work can no longer be sold.

New York judge Nancy M. Bannon on March 15 dismissed the suit, saying it was “untimely,” referring to the four-year gap between the work’s return and the filing, and calling the details of the years between 2018, when the damage was discovered, and 2021, when the insurance claim was settled, “thin.”

The Judd Foundation has appealed the decision. “We are committed to defending Donald Judd’s legacy and work,” foundation president Rainer Judd, the artist’s daughter, said in a statement. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and will be appealing in order to ensure that his art continues to be protected.”

To that end, the foundation is in the process of suing Kim Kardashian on the grounds that she misrepresented in a video some furniture as being by Judd. The foundation is additionally suing the company that made the furniture for trademark and copyright infringement.