| Spring is for Art!
Welcome to the eighth edition of the Johnsonese Brokerage Art & Antiques Insurance Newsletter. The goal of our newsletter is to provide useful information about insurance to individuals, businesses and non-profits involved with the fine and decorative arts, antiques and collectibles.
We've all survived the worst of the 'Great Recession'. We've survived the slow winter months. Now it's time to enjoy the spring art season!
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Corporate Art News; Deere & Co., Safeco Insurance |
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 Artworks from Deere & Company's corporate collection will go on display beginning April 24th in the John Deere Collection Gallery at the Figge Art Museum. The tractor manufacturer and the museum are both located in Davenport, Iowa.
The collection, which numbers nearly 1,000 pieces, includes oil paintings, works on paper, photography, textiles and sculpture. While particularly strong in American regionalism, the collection also encompasses works by Grant Wood and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in addition to well-known African, Asian and South American artists. The gallery will stay in place indefinitely, with pieces rotating in and out of display. There will also be the possibility of touring some of the pieces.
Meanwhile, Safeco Insurance has donated 840 artworks to the Washington Art Consortium (WAC). The collection, valued at $3.5 million, is focused exclusively on northwestern American art. The donation includes works by Jacob Lawrence, Fay Jones, Morris Graves, Barbara Thomas and George Tsutakawa. The WAC is a non-profit cooperative comprised of seven art museums and three universities located in Washington State.
The Safeco collection was built over 30 years. The donation may be a result of Liberty Mutual Group 2008 acquisition of Safeco. Liberty Mutual is a Fortune 500 insurance group.
-Quad City Times, December 27, 2009-Safeco Press Release February 12, 2010
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Metropolitan Museum of Art says Restoration Takes Time |
 In 2002 a 15th-century High Renaissance marble statue by the Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo crashed to the floor of the Met and broke into hundreds of pieces. Its dense plywood base had buckled.
At the time of the mishap curators and conservators said the sculpture would be back on view within two years. But more than seven years later an immense conservation research project has grown up around the sculpture. The museum now expects it to be fully fitted back together in the next nine months, followed by perhaps two more years of filling, finishing and cleaning work.
Museum officials say that it helped that a large insurance settlement, the size of which the museum declined to specify, has covered most of the project. The restoration will eventually be the subject of an entire exhibition and the sculpture will be the centerpiece of a new gallery devoted to the Venetian Renaissance.
- New York Times, January 27, 2010
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Random Art Accidents |
The New York Times recently wrote about a number of odd accidents that led to damaged artworks:
In January of this year a woman taking a class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art stumbled into "The Actor," a work by Picasso dating to 1904 or 1905. The canvas was ripped in the lower right-hand corner.
A drawing by Lucian Freud valued at more than $100,000 was accidentally put through a shredder by Sotheby's in London in 2000.
A man tripped over his shoelace on a staircase at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, and shattered three Qing dynasty porcelain vases.
A painting by Giorgio de Chirico, "Piazza d'Italia," was hanging on the wall of a townhouse in the Netherlands when demolition began on a bank next door. The wrecking ball came through the wall of the house and shot a perfect hole through the canvas.
In Germany, a Ming dynasty lacquer plate - about 600 years old - was hit by a housekeeper's elbow and ended up in bits on the ground.
-New York Times, January 26, 2010
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Things are Falling on Collector Cars |
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A February snow storm led to the collapse of a garage holding five high-end cars in Forest, Virginia. The cars, all convertibles, included a '67 mustang convertible--one of 158 in existence. Only one car is reparable and damage is estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Local news in Arizona called a January storm "one of the worst in state history." A state of emergency was declared for all of Arizona. The storm led to flash floods and tornadoes. In Scottsdale a Russo & Steele classic car auction was underway.
The auction's huge event tents were ripped apart by the severe thunderstorm. High winds carried away a large section of the tenting. About 600 classic automobiles, including a 1948 Tucker 48 convertible, were in the tents at the time. Early estimates said that as many as half of the 600 cars had suffered at least some damage, and that some of them had been extensively damaged.
-ABC 13 News Lynchburg, VA, February 12, 2010 -New York Times, January 22, 2010, 7:59 pm
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The Importance of Proper Inheritance Handling |
The Huffington Post recently ran an article about the importance of properly handling inheritance tax when it comes to artworks. Suppose an artwork is passed down for two generations without appraisal and the payment of estate taxes. Ultimately the artwork comes up for auction.
 First, the auction estimate might be significantly lowered because the piece has no provenance; no receipt for the purchase, no ownership documentation, no exhibition history. Second there apparently is no statute of limitations for estate tax fraud. This fraud follows inheritors forever. The IRS may demand a substantial cut when it is determined that inheritance tax has not been paid-twice.
- Huffington Post, February 23, 2010 | |
At the Johnsonese Brokerage it is always our goal to reduce your insurance costs! To get started immediately call 773.252.8750 or Email info@johnsonese.com.
Christopher Johnson
Johnsonese Brokerage LLC
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About the Johnsonese Brokerage |
The Johnsonese Brokerage LLC is a licensed and bonded independent insurance agency focused on insuring the fine and decorative arts community.
Who we insure:
- Creative Businesses
- Art Galleries & Consultants
- Antique Dealers
- Appraisers & Conservators
- Artists
- Photographers
- Framers
- Furniture & Design Dealers
- Art & Antique Fairs
- Cultural Institutions
- Museums
- Libraries & Archives
- Historical Societies
- Non-Profit Art Galleries
- Monuments
- Historic Buildings
- Collectors
- Corporate Collections
- Art Collectors
- Antique Collectors
- Stamp & Coin Collectors
- Sport Memorabilia
- Classic Cars
- Wine Collections
We are licensed in the following states:
- California (license #0G69323)
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
- Texas
Upcoming events:
- Creative Chicago Expo, April 10, 2010 - stop by our booth in the vendor hall
- Art Chicago, April 30 - May 3, 2010 - I'll be wondering the show saying hello to clients
- Association of Midwest Museums Annual Conference, October 7 - 8, 2010, Cleveland - look for us at booth #8 in the vendor hall
How are we doing? Your feedback is always welcome! | |
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Common Insurance Terms
1. Fire Legal Liability
Covers, for example, damage to rented space resulting from a fire caused by the insured's negligence
2. Extra Expense Coverage
Reimbursement for costs incurred to continue operations when an insured property has been damaged
3. Medical Payments
Insurance
Coverage for minor medical expenses without the need to prove liability
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Sports Cards for a House?
A San Diego collector has posted an advertisement on Craigslist offering to trade his sports cards for a house. The book value of his collection is said to be $500,000, including a mint condition 1962 Mickey Mantle card. The collector hopes to avoid the effort of selling the collection piece by piece.
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-Cardboard Connection, February 11, 2010
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| Our Business Partners
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AmWins
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AXA
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Chubb
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CNA
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Insurance Noodle
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Markel
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Paychex
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Philadelphia
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Risk Placement Services
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AXA S.A. Ranked World's 2nd Largest Carrier
In the latest industry rankings, AXA S.A. is listed as the second largest insurance organization in the world. AXA S.A. is the parent of AXA Art Insurance, one of the main insurance partners of the Johnsonese Brokerage.
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