Robert Indiana’s Estate Has Reached an Agreement With His Longtime Financial Backer After a Bitter Three-Year Legal Fight

A three-year long legal dispute involving the legacy and estate of Pop artist Robert Indiana has finally come to an end. According to artnet news:

The artist's estate, the Star of Hope Foundation, which the artist established before his death, and the Morgan Art Foundation, which holds the copyright to some of Indiana's most famous works, have agreed to drop their overlapping claims and counterclaims. 

However, the parties did not end at dismissing their claims. The parties have also agreed to "mint a partnership in order to jointly promote the artist's work and foster growth in his market."

The dispute began in May 2018, which is the month Robert Indiana died. The Morgan Art Foundation filed a federal lawsuit against art seller Michael McKenzie and a number of other parties claiming that they "had isolated Indiana, taken advantage of him, and produced unauthorized reproductions of his work." 

Luckily, after three years the parties involved were able to come to an agreement and resolve the issues. 

See Eileen Kinsella, Robert Indiana’s Estate Has Reached an Agreement With His Longtime Financial Backer After a Bitter Three-Year Legal Fight, artnet news, June 14, 2021. 

Special thanks to Glen Yale for bringing this article to my attention.