Museum sues ex-director alleging he tried to profit from fake Basquiat paintings

Federal agents raided the Orlando Museum of Art last year and seized more than two dozen paintings

The Orlando Museum of Art has sued a former director alleging that Aaron De Groft tried to profit from fake Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings.

The FBI raided the museum last year and seized more than two dozen paintings as part of an investigation into the “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition at the museum.

The museum filed a 400-page lawsuit in Orange County, Florida, on Monday, blaming Mr De Groft over the fake “unseen” works of art, reported WESH. The former CEO and director of the museum was removed from his position following the raid.

The lawsuit alleges that Mr De Groft claimed that the owners of the paintings had promised him “a significant cut of the proceeds” from their anticipated multi-million dollar sale.

But in the end, former auctioneer Michael Barzman pleaded guilty to federal charges that he and another man had faked the paintings.

He told investigators that he created some of the paintings in less than five minutes and planned on selling them on eBay.

Department of Justice prosecutors say that Barzman had claimed that a notarized document proved the paintings belonged to a well-known screenwriter.

Those paintings then ended up hanging in the OMA for the exhibition. Barzman entered a plea deal with prosecutors and is facing a five-year prison sentence.

Y’all, THESE are the fake Basquiats they had in the Orlando Museum. I’m dead. pic.twitter.com/wLmKxx9rjX

— art21savage (@PasticheLumumba) June 30, 2022

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Orlando Museum of Art, Mark Elliott, said that the museum felt it had no choice but to take legal action.

In a statement, he said that the lawsuit “details the facts and circumstances that led to these works eventually finding their way to the Museum and seeks to hold responsible the people the Museum believes knowingly misrepresented the works’ authenticity and provenance. Given that litigation has commenced, the OMA looks forward to presenting its case to a jury.”