Al Hirschfeld Foundation v. Margo Feiden Galleries

Background

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation, successor to cartoonist Al Hirschfeld, had pursued claims against Margo Feiden and The Margo Feiden Galleries, Ltd. concerning a settlement agreement that governed their relationship since 2000. In earlier rulings, the court found that the Galleries materially breached the agreement by failing to account for 20 missing works and selling giclée prints without authorization. The court also found that the Foundation validly terminated the agreement and awarded $330,981.67 in damages for those breaches.

In a later summary-judgment ruling, the court found the Galleries liable for converting seven additional works: “Winterset,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Joseph Wiseman,” “The Many Faces of Bob Hope,” “Tallulah Bankhead,” “Pauline Kael,” and “Mr. President.” This opinion addressed the damages for those seven works after an October 30, 2019 hearing.

Returned Works

Before and during the hearing, the Galleries produced five works or substitute works: “Of Mice and Men,” “Joseph Wiseman,” a work identified as No. 2471 rather than the missing No. 2470 “Tallulah Bankhead,” Feiden’s original “Mr. President,” and “Winterset.” The Foundation accepted each item, and the parties agreed that the Foundation was fully compensated for those five converted works. The court therefore awarded no additional monetary damages for them.

The Many Faces of Bob Hope

The court held that conversion damages—not contract damages—applied because the work had been unlawfully disposed of after the agreement ended. Feiden testified that the Galleries had given the drawing to a press agent around 1994, allegedly with Hirschfeld’s consent, but the court found that assertion uncorroborated.

The Foundation’s expert valued the drawing at $15,000, assuming it was in good condition. Feiden valued it at $3,500 and described it as small, unfinished, yellowed, damaged, and in very poor condition. The court set the fair-market-value damages at $5,000, crediting Feiden’s description of the work while also accounting for its subject, the popular comedian Bob Hope.

Pauline Kael

The Galleries disclosed that they had sold “Pauline Kael” in November 2016. They argued that the sale was subject only to contract damages because it occurred before the court revised its preliminary injunction to require the Foundation’s prior written approval for sales. The court rejected that argument because the settlement agreement had already terminated on September 6, 2016, and the evidence showed that the sale occurred afterward.

The court therefore reaffirmed that the Galleries were liable for conversion and applied conversion damages. The Foundation’s expert valued the work at $22,000, while Feiden relied on the $8,500 sale price. The court set the work’s fair-market value at $15,000, discounting the expert’s valuation because several comparisons involved more famous subjects but finding Feiden’s valuation too low because it did not account for the drawing’s quality, color, and other evidence.

Disposition

The court awarded the Foundation $5,000 for “The Many Faces of Bob Hope” and $15,000 for “Pauline Kael.” It awarded $0 for “Of Mice and Men,” “Joseph Wiseman,” “Tallulah Bankhead,” “Mr. President,” and “Winterset” because the Galleries had provided the drawings or substitutes that the Foundation accepted as compensation. The total award was $20,000.

The court did not direct the clerk to enter a formal judgment at that time because other claims in the case had not yet been resolved. The court also stated that it would resolve the Galleries’ sanctions motion in a separate decision.