Saturday, January 01, 2005

Artless in Seattle

Seattle Art Gallery owner Kurt Lidtke knew his art - but artists, other dealers, clients, his landlord and even friends still sued him for payment for works by Degas, Matisse and many local Seattle artists. Some payments were extracted from his forced $710,000 house sale.
Divorce action, a charge of domestic violence and an order that forbids him from using drugs or alcohol followed for Lidtke. "There's two sides to every story," he said "The last year has been difficult for everyone."
This is particularly true for some of his older Seattle collectors who have lost their art with no chance of payment.
Irish Art