Beware of art professors offering to care of your prized artworks. That’s what a Wisconsin woman implicitly warns in a new lawsuit that accuses a retired University of Wisconsin art history professor of offering to store for her Grant Wood painting and then sending it to an auction house to be sold, according to the Courthouse News Serivce.
Martha Nesbit Frankwicz says that the professor, James Dennis, offered to take care of Sultry Night, a painting by Grant Wood (of American Gothic fame) back in 1995 and she agreed. Earlier this year, though, a friend told her that he had deposited the work with Jackson Auction Company, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in order to sell the work. She’s also suing the auction house, which is holding the piece.
A hat tip to CNS, which had a superb headline for its story: “Art Prof Accused of Canoodling a Grant Wood.”
