Gannett New Press ran an interesting article on the trial and lawsuit over the Rauschenbert Revocable Trust which is suing the Rauschenberg foundation for $60 million.
The value of Rauscneberg's work has come into debate at the trial with appraiser Alex Rosenberg, a dealer and appraiser who used previous estimates from Christie's, his own methodology and sampling to come to a $1.7 billion at the time of the artists death. The foundation believes the work at the time of death was valued closer to $600 million. The foundation questioned the sampling methodology instead of valuing each work. Appraiser Rosenberg stated there were 7,000 pieces and just too many to value individually.
The News Press reports
Source: News PressThe trial continued Thursday in a lawsuit brought by three trustees of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust, who are suing the artist's foundation for $60 million in fees for services rendered.
The worth of Rauschenberg's work was again the focus.
The trustees are Bennet Grutman, who was also Rauschenberg's accountant; Darryl Pottorf, close friend and companion and executor of the artist's will; and Bill Goldston, who partnered with the artist for a fine art print publishing company.
Value of Robert Rauschenberg's work examined in trial
The trustees' attorney, Michael Gay, questioned Alex Rosenberg of New York City, an independent art dealer and consultant who is also former president of the Appraisers Association of America. Rosenberg said he appraised Rauschenberg's work at the time of his death as $1.7 billion. He arrived at the figure using the appraisals of Christie's auction house and his own method, which included assessing a sample of Rauschenberg's work and applying mathematical formulas.
Rauschenberg, known as the world's greatest living contemporary artist before his death May 12, 2008, was also an avid philanthropist. His will stated that his entire estate should go into a trust, which was overseen and controlled by his friends, the three trustees. The trust was to distribute the artist's assets to his beneficiaries, with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation being the primary beneficiary.
The trustees have already paid themselves $5.7 million and now seek an additional $60 million. The trial, in Lee County Circuit Court before Judge Jay Rosman, may last until June 20. Rauschenberg lived on Captiva.
The trustees say the value of the art is key to the case. The foundation says the key to the case is the amount of work the trustees performed and what is the value of it.
The trustees say they grew the estate value from $600 million to $2.2 billion. They want a percentage of it. The $60 million would amount to about 3 percent.
The foundation attorney, Bob Goldman, disputed Rosenberg's appraisal during his cross-examination. He questioned the art expert's methodology. "Your comments about Rauschenberg's work soaring in value is just your opinion," he told Rosenberg.
"No," Rosenberg replied.
Goldman parried that the true value of the work was $548.7 million in 2008. Rosenberg disagreed.
"You can't tell me what the actual fair market value is of a specific piece," Goldman said. There were 7,000 pieces of Rauschenberg art and he then asked Rosenberg why he didn't appraise each piece instead of taking a sample and applying a mathematical formula.
"We wouldn't be here," Rosenberg said. "I'd still be working on it."
Goldman said that the credibility of Rosenberg's method had been questioned in three other cases and in one case, his testimony was excluded.
Each case is different, Rosenberg said. "I'm sorry, you are comparing apples with pears."
In court papers, the foundation terms the $5.7 million already paid the trustees "grossly excessive," and the $60 million sought "outrageous."
A more appropriate amount would be about $300,000 to less than $1 million, split among the three, attorney Goldman said.
Clarification:
The three trustees suing the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation oversaw the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust. The trust controlled the artist's estate and was in charge of distributing assets to beneficiaries. The primary beneficiary was the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The relationship in earlier stories was unclear.
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