S. Art Law

The seminar Law and the Visual Arts will focus on the myriad of legal topics that lawyers for  visual artists, dealers , auction houses and museums handle on a daily basis.  These include the role of the museum in society and the art market, tax issues important to these groups, copyright (particularly the Visual Artists Rights Act), issues of authentication within the art market, art market transactions, and the problems surrounding Nazi-looted art.

Classroom discussion is an important part of this seminar.  In addition to being evaluated on thoughtful and frequent participation in the discussion, students will be asked to write approximately four short papers (of 3-5 pages in length) throughout the term.  Second-year students may, in special circumstances and with permission of the instructors, complete their major writing credit through the class by working on one long paper throughout the term.