An Artist’s Estate ChallengeAn Artist’s Estate Challenge

The year 2019 in the art world was, in many ways, a year-in-between: Market participants engaged in a steady yet conservative stream of buying and selling art, balancing uncertainties about the world economy with their adjustment to the tax changes wrought by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and South Dakota v. Wayfair,¹ and their preparation for anticipated global regulations on anti-money laundering. One area of law that continues to present challenges this year is the area of estate administration for artists and, particularly, the sensitivities that arise regarding the treatment of the posthumous production of works. 

An Artist’s Estate

Administering an artist’s estate requires several steps unique to artists. On receiving notice of an a...