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Worcester Telegram, MA
Oct 5 2012
Kevorkian estate, Watertown museum settle over artwork
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A dispute has been settled between Dr. Jack Kevorkian's estate and a
suburban Boston museum over the ownership of 17 of the
assisted-suicide advocate's paintings, and some of them could end up
being sold, a lawyer said.
The executor of Kevorkian's estate, Michigan-based attorney Mayer
Morganroth, said that under the agreement the Armenian Library and
Museum of America in Watertown, Mass., will keep four paintings and 13
will be returned to Kevorkian's estate to benefit Kevorkian's niece,
Ava Janus of Troy, Mich.
"Of course we are happy it's resolved," Morganroth told The Detroit
News (http://bit.ly/QWGCAM ) for a story published Friday. "The
settlement recognizes the need for his art to be preserved ... while
returning artwork to his heir."
Arrangements are being made for the return of the 13 paintings, which
Morganroth said he expects will be offered for sale at art galleries.
The museum sued in federal court in Massachusetts last year ahead of a
New York auction. It claimed Kevorkian donated the art in 1999. His
estate said he loaned it to the museum for an exhibit and subsequent
storage. According to federal court records, an order dismissing the
lawsuit was entered last month.
The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment museum lawyers Friday.
Kevorkian died in 2011 at age 83. His estate had estimated the value
of the 17 paintings at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, but the New York
auction was dampened by the legal battle. Images of the paintings were
displayed at the auction instead of the actual works because the
museum wouldn't send them.
"We had opening bids of $100,000 for some," Morganroth said. "But when
we told interested persons we couldn't guarantee delivery because of
the pending litigation, the bids dropped off."
Kevorkian sparked the national right-to-die debate with a homemade
suicide machine that helped end the lives of about 130 ailing people.
He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 for assisting in the
1998 death of a Michigan man with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was
released from prison in 2007.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20121005/NEWS/121009621/1116
From: Baghdasarian
Oct 5 2012
Kevorkian estate, Watertown museum settle over artwork
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A dispute has been settled between Dr. Jack Kevorkian's estate and a
suburban Boston museum over the ownership of 17 of the
assisted-suicide advocate's paintings, and some of them could end up
being sold, a lawyer said.
The executor of Kevorkian's estate, Michigan-based attorney Mayer
Morganroth, said that under the agreement the Armenian Library and
Museum of America in Watertown, Mass., will keep four paintings and 13
will be returned to Kevorkian's estate to benefit Kevorkian's niece,
Ava Janus of Troy, Mich.
"Of course we are happy it's resolved," Morganroth told The Detroit
News (http://bit.ly/QWGCAM ) for a story published Friday. "The
settlement recognizes the need for his art to be preserved ... while
returning artwork to his heir."
Arrangements are being made for the return of the 13 paintings, which
Morganroth said he expects will be offered for sale at art galleries.
The museum sued in federal court in Massachusetts last year ahead of a
New York auction. It claimed Kevorkian donated the art in 1999. His
estate said he loaned it to the museum for an exhibit and subsequent
storage. According to federal court records, an order dismissing the
lawsuit was entered last month.
The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment museum lawyers Friday.
Kevorkian died in 2011 at age 83. His estate had estimated the value
of the 17 paintings at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, but the New York
auction was dampened by the legal battle. Images of the paintings were
displayed at the auction instead of the actual works because the
museum wouldn't send them.
"We had opening bids of $100,000 for some," Morganroth said. "But when
we told interested persons we couldn't guarantee delivery because of
the pending litigation, the bids dropped off."
Kevorkian sparked the national right-to-die debate with a homemade
suicide machine that helped end the lives of about 130 ailing people.
He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 for assisting in the
1998 death of a Michigan man with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was
released from prison in 2007.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20121005/NEWS/121009621/1116
From: Baghdasarian