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Park West Gallery Litigation Update #2:

Park West Gallery Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

Read the previous Park West Gallery Litigation Updates

Is Park West Gallery attempting to cut its captive self-proclaimed Dalí authenticator, Bernard Ewell, adrift?

Up a Creek Without a Paddle

On September 19, 2009, Park West Gallery filed a Motion to Sever Bernard Ewell from the Federal litigation. What is a Motion to Sever and what does all this mean? In general, a Motion to Sever a party (in this case Ewell) from a lawsuit entails asking a Judge for one case to be divided into two different cases so they can be tried separately. This is never efficient for the courts or for the parties involved. But this is precisely the type of underhanded tactics that Park West Gallery has employed from the beginning.

Fine Art Registry® believes that Park West Gallery has a specific strategic reason for pulling this latest legal maneuver and it's not what you might think. Remember, nothing is as it seems with Park West Gallery, and its lawyers are always scrambling to dream up creative ways to intimidate, and spend to death, anyone who opposes them. They figure the more they can get people to jump through their endless dreamed-up legal hoops, the better chance they have of breaking them financially and shutting them up. And trust us when we say that Park West and its lawyers blur the line between fact and fiction in the extreme.

It's no different than what is happening in the news right now with the young college kids who exposed, on film, the fraud within the organization ACORN. And what happened when these videos became public? ACORN filed a SLAPP suit against the kids who filmed and released the story to the media. ACORN was caught red handed and now they want these young kids to pay - to chill free speech is the intent. This is exactly the type of situation we have here with Park West Gallery. Fine Art Registry has published case histories, facts and evidence - firsthand accounts of real people being ripped off by Park West Gallery - and have continued to expose its myriad of bad business practices and so much more, even in spite of Park West Gallery’s intimidation tactics. Park West Gallery, in an effort to strangle free speech and to silence Fine Art Registry, experts, appraisers, and victims that are brave enough to speak out against its bad business practices, has filed a series of SLAPP lawsuits against its own customers and against Fine Art Registry and world expert in Dali prints and graphics, Frank Hunter. It has also threatened other experts along the way, including independent appraisers, and Dalí experts such as Alex Rosenberg.

Desperate Measures

Desperate situations apparently call for desperate measures. We believe that Park West Gallery is deeply concerned (as it should be) about its fair-haired boy, Ewell, being sued and named as a Defendant in the same case in which it plans (or planned) to call him as an expert witness. This latest legal ploy may be a way for Park West to rid itself of the albatross. At the same time, it could very well be that Park West Gallery is strategically positioning itself to set Ewell up to sue him too at some point in the immediate future or at the least point the finger at him (as disingenuous as this would be, given the fact they have carried him and promoted him for more than a decade), for his egregious errors and omissions concerning the Dalí graphics it sells. We also consider this latest legal maneuver by Park West a desperate attempt to shield itself from the ever mounting, scathing public scrutiny. But whatever the case, it's certainly more of the latest gobbledygook that Park West Gallery's circus of legal thespians filed in order to waste the court's resources and to weasel a way out of having Ewell center stage (as a Defendant) before the same jury that Park West Gallery will face. Heavens! Park West Gallery can't have their only expert on trial, who for well over the last decade they relied on to bless all the Park West Dalí inventory of prints. No, that will never do. This latest move to separate Ewell from the current litigation is a red herring - another stratagem - an excuse to rid themselves of what has no doubt become a colossal embarrassment - a millstone around the neck of Park West.

So, let's break down all this legal mumbo jumbo into laymen's terms and analyze this recent legal chess move by Park West Gallery in much more detail. (It is the truth that the last thing Park West Gallery and its lawyers want is for Fine Art Registry to continue to disclose litigation analysis and updates to the public. But we will continue to do so as promised so that we can raise awareness about this serious public policy issue.)

Analysis of Park West Gallery's Skewed Legal Strategy!

Park West Gallery filed a Motion to Sever Bernard Ewell from the Federal litigation in Michigan. Why? Though we believe there are other more sinister reasons behind this, in essence, it is Park West Gallery's position that the Fine Art Registry lawsuit filed against Ewell will make Park West Gallery and its expert look bad in front of a jury. Fine Art Registry found this argument amusing and hypocritical, especially when you consider that Park West Gallery was the first to set the precedent by filing an intimidation lawsuit against Fine Art Registry expert Frank Hunter for providing opinions to victims on Park West Gallery forged Dalí prints in the Sharon Day and Julian Howard lawsuit. In fact, Park West Gallery sued Frank Hunter only AFTER they (Park West Gallery and its Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum legal team) tried to intimidate him through veiled threats of a lawsuit and AFTER Park West repeatedly pressured and encouraged Frank Hunter to meet with the Park West's lawyers and executives, without Hunter's lawyer present so they could try to get him to change his opinions as to the forged and fake prints and to convince him to turn on Fine Art Registry and all the Park West Gallery victims he had helped. Park West representatives told Frank Hunter that they wouldn't serve him with a lawsuit if he met with them. We have recorded evidence of this outrageous intimidation tactic, much to the heartburn of Park West Gallery. Of course, Frank Hunter saw through Park West Gallery's scheme and when he repeatedly refused to participate in this clandestine meeting with Park West Gallery's new hired guns ex-g men (aka Dancing Bear and his friend - a private dick), without his lawyer present, Park West SLAPPed Frank Hunter with a lawsuit.

Let's go a bit further and distinguish the Fine Art Registry lawsuit recently filed against Ewell from the lawsuit that Park West Gallery filed in April of this year against Frank Hunter. Fine Art Registry sued Ewell (in Federal court) for defamation, slander, and for civil conspiracy with Park West Gallery, among other claims. Read the recent press release regarding the lawsuit against Ewell. Fine Art Registry sued Ewell because he has for the last several months regularly defamed and slandered Fine Art Registry as well as world Dalí experts, Robert Descharnes, Nicolas Descharnes, and Frank Hunter, among other individuals. And moronically, Ewell, on several occasions even goes so far as to defame and slander the world's largest and most respected auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's, by referring to them as "pirates" and "highwaymen." This kind of maniacal conduct goes far beyond the pale. We find it beyond belief that Park West continues to prop up this bonehead expert of theirs by actively advertising him and linking to his defamatory and slanderous statements on the Park West Gallery website.

Conversely, you will not find ANY of the Fine Art Registry experts (Frank Hunter, Nicolas and Robert Descharnes, Roy Saper, Carl Britton, William Flynn, Enrique Sabater) endlessly blogging away defaming and slandering Christie's and Sotheby's or Park West Gallery's experts as Ewell has done and continues to do on a regular basis. Fine Art Registry believes that true experts who are retained to testify at trial maintain the highest level of professional conduct and integrity and set themselves apart to act responsibly and with dignity. There is little doubt that Ewell's imbecilic blogging habits demonstrate that he is a loose cannon. The sheer lack of control Park West Gallery and its lawyers have over their own expert is truly incredible and the fact that they continue to try to maintain his credibility as to his opinions on authenticity of the Dalí graphics they sell is astonishing. And they actually pay this guy for his opinions? It's hard to believe, but again what choice does Park West Gallery have?

In fact, not only does Park West Gallery continue to support Ewell, but Fine Art Registry has recently come into possession of outrageous correspondence, authored by Park West Gallery's so-called "lead counsel" (aka the Dancing Bear, also touted by Park West as the "most feared prosecutor" in the land) Bob Goldman, where he [Goldman] directs dissatisfied Park West Gallery customers and an art industry professional to (surprise, surprise) the Park West Gallery website, where the Dancing Bear is profiled, and at the precise link, Ewell's defamatory and slanderous statements against well-respected individuals in the industry, including Christie's and Sotheby's are prominently published. We are almost certain that the Dancing Bear never thought beyond his mustache that Fine Art Registry would come into possession of this gem of a letter. It appears that the Dancing Bear has waltzed himself right out onto a limb on this one. It's a humdinger of a letter and we plan and are indeed anxious to report this to the public and call attention to the great lengths Park West Gallery and its stupendous "lead counsel" will go to intimidate, confuse, stun, baffle, and confound victims and art industry professionals who refuse to be bullied into seeing things Park West Gallery's way. Stay tuned for much more on this subject.

Park West Gallery would have the court and the public believe that Ewell is acting independently with his defamatory and slanderous blog postings. But Park West Gallery lawyers aren't being truthful. Park West not only supports Ewell statements, they advertise Ewell prominently, and Park West's own lawyers push his agenda.

The relationship between Ewell and Park West Gallery is and always has been a situation of master and servant. It cannot be disputed that the financial ride has been sweet for both parties, and it has been smooth sailing indeed - until now. In other words, Ewell is and will always be buried deep in the pockets of Park West Gallery—so much so that the two are inextricably tied. It's a marriage for better or for worse until death (by litigation or criminal prosecution) doth them part. No matter how much Park West Gallery would like to divorce itself from Ewell and his spurious authentications of the Park West Dali inventory, they are stuck with the monster they created. Park West has put all its authentication eggs in the Ewell basket. And all the king's horses and all the king's men...well, you get the idea.

Make no mistake, Park West Gallery and its lawyers are well aware of the fact that they are stuck with Ewell and his opinions and, in their quiet moments, we know they must be squirming. Fine Art Registry believes this is a major factor behind Park West Gallery's recently filed Motion to Sever (or to separate) Ewell from the Federal litigation. It's a ruse - an illusion. They want him out of the case and as far away from the jury they will face as possible. Park West knows that you can dress up a pig, and put a big, pretty bow on it - but alas, it's still a pig.

It's too late to change the course of things now. Park West Gallery used Ewell exclusively to authenticate hundreds of thousands of Dalí prints sourced from specious European sources and knew or should have known that the provenance they used to support the supposed Dalí signatures was far from correct, verifiable in any way, or even credible. It's the Park West Gallery "story" and they are forced to stick with it. It's interesting to note that over the last decade or more Park West Gallery has had every opportunity to have its Dali print inventory inspected or vetted by other professionals in the industry such as the Descharnes, Hunter, or Rosenberg. Park West Gallery could have also consulted with Sotheby's or Christie's and learned almost immediately that what they had was not legitimate signed Dali sets of the Divine Comedy. They made no attempt to seek out independent opinions, though any honest dealer would have at least attempted to do so, especially after learning about the German art fraud investigation. It begs the question and in fact, the question looms larger than life: WHY DIDN'T PARK WEST CHECK WITH OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCES? Why indeed. We all know the answer.

Analysis of Park West Gallery's Possible Strategic Alternatives

Now, let's take a look at some of the possible alternatives that Park West Gallery might consider moving forward in this litigation and in every litigation pending against them, at least as it relates to the spurious Dali inventory of prints it has sold over the last decade or more:

1. Continue to champion Ewell.

   In doing so, Park West must continue to support Ewell's abject, nefarious, and schizophrenic public statements as well as his seriously flawed authentication opinions. This includes all Ewell's bent and mocked up opinions on the Park West Gallery Dali graphics and prints that bear forged signatures as well as those prints that are fake images with forged signatures.

   Continuing support of Ewell also means Park West Gallery must certainly fully endorse and condone the outlandish and boorish defamatory and slanderous statements Ewell makes, not only against Fine Art Registry, but against world experts Robert and Nicolas Descharnes in France, Frank Hunter (Director of the Salvador Dalí Archives in New York), and respected auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Ewell stands to be sued by these experts and auction houses for his irresponsible, unsubstantiated, and cockamamie statements. Park West Gallery and its lawyers could find themselves in the legal soup too (more so than they are now) by continuing to overtly promote and advertise Ewell and his harmful statements on the home page of one of the Park West Gallery web sites.

   At the trial in February 2010, Ewell will be forced to defend himself for claims of defamation, slander and conspiracy, while at the same time he is being paid handsomely by his lord and master Park West Gallery to testify on its behalf about the wonders of the Park West Gallery inventory of Dalí prints. This is a serious conflict for Park West Gallery, leaving them in a bit of a pickle. Ewell will be grilled on the witness stand as a FACT witness and NOT as an expert - as someone who has harmed Fine Art Registry as well as every other professional and professional organizations he has wrongfully maligned with absolutely no basis in fact, including Sotheby's and Christie's - and rightly so.

   
   

2. Dump Ewell.

   This is something that Park West Gallery should have considered long, long ago. To do so now would be suicide for Park West Gallery for a number of reasons. First of all, Park West would be left with no expert at all (which would perhaps have served them better in the long run had they done so much earlier).

   If they were to dump Ewell now, this would be an admission that Park West Gallery knew or had reason to know that something wasn't quite right with their Dali inventory from the beginning, and that their expert was and is a sham. This would likely open Park West Gallery up to severe scrutiny by the cruise lines with whom they have contracts. And the fact that Park West Gallery has been selling these spurious Dalí prints on cruise ships for at least the last 12 or 13 years is a boat load of money that the cruise lines could very well be on the refund hook for. It is very likely that Park West Gallery has pulled the wool over the eyes of the cruise lines, telling cruise executives all was well and that it has the world's expert in Dali backing its works of art. If only the cruise lines would open the blind eye and consider the overwhelming evidence that exists.

   Park West has claimed all along that it never purchased anything without Ewell's blessing. Dumping him (which again is something that should have been considered on the first go around - if indeed Park West was being honest with the public) would mean refunding everyone in the world who has ever purchased a Dalí print from Park West Gallery, or at least those prints that happen to have a forged signature (which we believe is the bulk of its inventory) or a fake print with a forged signature. Presumably, it would be like a 'run on a bank' with many hundreds or thousands coming forward for refunds.

   
   

3. Sue Ewell and those individuals who supplied Park West Gallery with its Dali print inventory.

   Now here's an interesting alternative that Fine Art Registry is almost certain Park West Gallery lawyers must have considered. Park West files a lawsuit against Ewell and all the people who supplied Park West with Dali prints authenticated by Ewell since 1996 (and perhaps earlier) and shift the blame to them.

   This would seem like the best bet for Park West at this point. But wait - not so fast. Park West would then likely claim that it didn’t know about the spurious and trumped up provenance or the fake prints or the forged signatures. It would surely have to claim that it was Ewell and the suppliers of the prints that duped Park West Gallery. But this opens up a huge can of worms for Park West Gallery. Indeed, going down this alternative road would be a Gordian knot, a Pandora's box for Park West Gallery, starting with its own lawyer, the Dancing Bear, who recently told the National Law Journal that since he's been employed with Park West Gallery (he claims he is working exclusively for Park West), he traveled to Europe three times and reported that he verified all the Dalí provenance to be authentic even though he admits he is not a Dalí authenticator. Not exactly the smartest thing to do - but then again the Dancing Bear, coming from the criminal law field, has little civil law experience and probably didn't see this one coming. His recent quotes in the National Law Journal sort of did his client in on this alternative.

   No, this scenario wouldn't play out well at all, especially considering that throughout our investigation we have proven (and it is undisputed) that Park West Gallery created provenance for all of the Dali prints they sell - yes, manufactured provenance out of thin air (which is something that is never acceptable in the art industry) - and without disclosing this to their customers who purchased Dalí inventory. Despite what Park West Gallery Certificates of Authenticity state, it is Park West Gallery employees who apply the Jean Estrade blind stamp to the prints and it is Park West that applies the numbering to the prints. NONE OF THIS IS DISCLOSED TO BUYERS OR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS AND IT CERTAINLY SHOULD BE. It also applies its own numbering to series of Dalí prints, quite contrary to industry practices on the subject. How much of a stretch then is it for Park West Gallery or its suppliers to add a fake Dali signature to the prints?

   So with all this going on how could Park West Gallery with a straight face prosecute a claim against Ewell and Park West's suppliers of the Dalí prints? How would Park West explain away that it has continued to sell these spurious prints even though Park West was on notice of the significant problems with its Dali inventory for at least the last two years we have been reporting, never mind their knowledge of the German fraud investigation? Consider too that Fine Art Registry has substantial evidence that Park West Gallery has for years referred unsatisfied customers to Ewell in order that he could help "convince" people that what they have bought is legitimate all in an effort to avoid refunds. It's all such a tidy arrangement! And this is exactly the same thing that Park West Gallery pulled with its Rembrandt inventory of prints. They referred unsatisfied customers to an ex-con by the name of John McLaurin who acted in the same capacity as Ewell has - one heck of a labyrinth of deception.

   
   

4. File for bankruptcy and claim that Park West Gallery was duped.

   This would mean that all the cruise lines Park West has served over the years would be left holding the bag and could be held responsible for refunding potentially hundreds of millions of dollars (and not just for Dalí works of art - see our articles on the Fine Art Registry Rembrandt investigation). Why? Because the cruise lines are all well aware of the sale of spurious artwork by Park West Gallery aboard their cruise ships but have failed and continue to ignore it and turn a blind eye in favor of greed.

Time will tell which scenario will play out. None of the options above look good for Park West Gallery or the cruise lines.

Analysis of Flawed Provenance and Ewell's Cookie Cutter Authentication Reports and Opinions

Ewell claims in scores of his cookie cutter authentication reports he prepared for Park West Gallery that he "discerns from the information, [Dali] prints and research all clues as to authorship, authenticity, originality, and condition." We find this statement amazing, considering Fine Art Registry has evidence that in all cases we have reviewed (and we have reviewed a great number of Ewell's opinions - in fact, if you've read one, you’ve read them all), Ewell did NONE of these things.

A Sherlock Holmes he is not when it comes to "discerning" much of anything regarding the Dalí prints at issue - except to simply sign off on them for Park West Gallery and collect a check. Not only did he not discern clues as he certainly should have relating to the Dali prints other experts have inspected - he altogether ignored gigantic red flags that should have been enough to stop any competent expert. Assuming Ewell independently investigated any of the "information", "prints", "research" or "clues" as they relate to "authorship", "authenticity", "originality", or "condition", he certainly missed or outright ignored (or was told to ignore) obvious clues such as the poor condition of many of the prints Ewell claims are in excellent condition, serious gaps in, or non-existent provenance in the "line of descent" of the prints, strange documents and proven data forgeries used to support the authenticity of the prints, and sketchy documentation that is quite obviously not related to any specific prints in any way, as well as documents that have clearly been manufactured on demand. One only has to look at the set of Divine Comedy prints that were sold to Sharon Day and Julian Howard for nearly $500,000, in addition to others we have reviewed to see the pattern of deception as it relates to the Park West Gallery Dalí provenance documents.

Fine Art Registry will go into a great deal more detail regarding the Park West Gallery wildly distorted and counterfactual provenance in a separate article (see below), but it is interesting to note that throughout the entirety of our over two and half years of investigation into Park West Gallery Dali prints, Park West has never readily made these provenance documents available to prospective buyers for inspection IN ADVANCE of purchase. Why? Because if everyone with even a modicum of sophistication regarding art collecting got hold of the Park West Gallery so-called provenance in advance, it wouldn't take them long to discover exactly what Fine Art Registry has found.

There are many, many other "clues" that Ewell missed as to the inauthenticity of the Dalí graphics we have reviewed that will be addressed in another in-depth investigative article we will publish soon. The article will focus on the Park West Gallery provenance in particular and how it is non-existent and unavailable, unless and until one of its customers demands a refund. Once a refund is demanded by a victim (and especially if it is for a substantial sum) suddenly, the victim is papered to death with all manner of documents in French, Italian, Spanish and, if Park West could get away with it, in Swahili too. In nearly every case, none of it is translated into English and none of it is in any way specific to the victim's print or prints at issue. Doctoring and manufacturing provenance is an age old deception in art fraud and art crime. In our next article, we will go into great detail regarding the tricks of the trade. How criminals use provenance to fool the unsuspecting collector, buyer and art professional.

Out of the Dark and into the Light of Day - Fine Art Registry Will Continue to Report

We'll see what comes of Park West Gallery's attempt to erase Ewell as a Defendant from the lawsuit. We are sure Park West would just as soon lock him in a dark closet somewhere with the rest of the Park West Gallery skeletons - but again, like a bad rash, Park West Gallery is stuck with Ewell.

Whatever the Judge's decision, Fine Art Registry will be ready for it. Our reporting of these recent litigation developments would never see the light of day if Park West Gallery had its way. It is used to keeping things hidden and within the confines of the court system and it loathes the fact that Fine Art Registry is reporting on these legal issues. Fine Art Registry will continue to shine a bright light on this serious public policy issue and we will continue to report on and expose the bad business practices of Park West and its continued refusal to set things right with victims.

We realize it is very difficult for laymen to understand the legal system. But suffice it to state that unfair legal tactics and slick legal maneuverings are what Park West Gallery is known for (Park West Gallery lies to the court, and cheats whenever there is an opportunity, and has done so since the beginning of this litigation). We will continue to report on and explain these interesting legal topics in laymen's terms so you can follow along. Threatening and intimidating victims and experts with litigation and filing lawsuits against them has become a sport for Park West Gallery and up until now, Park West Gallery has succeeded in bludgeoning and beating down many who have come before and who have sought to expose them but didn’t have the resources, the industry knowledge, or the strength and wherewithal to withstand.

For the last decade or more, Park West Gallery has tried to conceal the truth by employing some of the most disgusting and unprofessional tactics to silence its critics, using Public Relations firms, paid bloggers, lawyers, and others to do their dirty work for them. Fine Art Registry has firsthand knowledge and knows all too well what lengths Park West Gallery will go in order to silence public broadcasting of the truth about Park West's business practices. But Fine Art Registry will NOT BE SILENCED.

All the whining, crying, and bellyaching in the world by Park West Gallery lawyers will not stop us from reporting the truth about the pending litigation. And by the way, we remind Park West Gallery that legal pleadings and motions filed with the court are a matter of public record.

Stay tuned for the next litigation update and other interesting articles on the Park West Gallery provenance that will continue to expose the self-proclaimed "world's largest" art peddler.

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— by Fine Art Registry®  |  September 30, 2009

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