Aaron de Groft, director and chief executive officer of the Orlando Museum, said on Tuesday night, shortly after the Federal Bureau of Investigation attacked the museum and seized 25 works belonging to Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was dismissed from the post. Credibility is being questioned.
Board members met early Tuesday to discuss the failure of the FBI investigation on Friday. The meeting ended with the board’s decision to dismiss DeGroft, as it had previously been warned that anyone talking to the news media would end, according to a museum employee who requested anonymity.
De Groft did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Cynthia Bramback, director of the museum, said in a statement: Of the Orlando Museum. She added that the museum councilor was “extremely concerned” about some issues with the exhibition “Heroes & Monsters: Jean-Michel Basquiat.”
In it, she said in a statement, “a recent exposure to inappropriate email communications sent to academia regarding the certification of some artwork for the exhibition.”
The New York Times appears to be threatening scholars who have been hired by De Groft in an affidavit filed last week to secure an investigation warrant signed by FBI special agent Elizabeth Rivas. He reported that he quoted an email. Owners of the artwork to rate them, and those who later complained about being related to the exhibition.
The expert was identified only as “Expert 2” in the affidavit, but he is an associate professor at the University of Maryland and Jordanamoo AsagesConfirmed to the Times that she is “Expert 2”.
According to the affidavit, Sagese, who was paid $ 60,000 for her written report, contacted the museum and asked not to associate her name with the exhibition. At that point, her affidavit stated that De Groft had sent her an email threatening to despise her, disclose her payments, and share details about it with her employer. ..
“Did you get a $ 60 ground to write this to us?” According to the affidavit, DeGroft wrote. “Well, noisy. You took the money. Stop being holy than you.” De Groft still claimed that the painting was genuine and threatened to share the details of his payment with the university. ..
“We have started an official process to address these issues because they are inconsistent with our values, our business standards, and our standards of conduct.” Brumback said in a statement.
The June 24 FBI investigation took place a few days before the closing of the Basquiat exhibition scheduled for June 30, after which the work was scheduled to be exhibited in Italy.
The works of the “Heroes & Monsters” exhibition held in February are said to have been recovered from the Los Angeles vault in 2012 by the museum and its owners.
According to The Times, one of the artworks displayed is a typeface that the designers working at Federal Express didn’t use, with instructions to “align the top of the FedEx shipping label here.” It was drawn on the back of the delivered paperboard delivery box. Until 1994 — 6 years after Basquiat’s death.
The search affidavit states that “forensic information indicates that the typeface created in 1994 after Basquiat’s passage was contained on a piece of paperboard with a picture on it, thereby at least one piece. I am questioning the authenticity of his work. “
Both De Groft and the owner of the work said the work was made by Basquiat in 1982 and sold to the now-deceased television screenwriter Thad Mumford for $ 5,000. They said the contents of the storage unit were found when they were confiscated due to rent delinquency and auctioned in 2012.
However, according to the affidavit, in 2017, a year before his death, Manford signed the declaration in the presence of a federal representative. When did he get or buy the painting? “
