CEO of Orlando Museum of Art unemployed after FBI raid

Stewart: Today, the director of the Orlando Museum of Art is out of a job. This latest development comes after months of speculation about whether the controversial exhibition at the museum is real. Michelle: Last week, we showed you that the FBI broke into the museum and took dozens of Basque paints. Now, the museum’s chairman says they are very concerned. Wish2’s Marley Martinez has the latest details on what the board calls inappropriate email. Marley. >> Spent the day getting access to the FBI and the US attorney. The US attorney’s office sent me a copy of the 41-page search warrant that allowed the FBI to raid the museum. Under the microscope are these 25 paintings that the Orlando Museum of Art unveiled in the spring as the first public display of Jane Michael’s Basquiat Gallery. Last Friday, the FBI raided the museum, seizing the artwork following concerns about credibility. A week after the exhibition opened, museum director Aaron de Groft spoke with us, and quickly defended the pieces. >> We have no doubts. We stand by him. It is original. >> He spoke after the New York Times published an article about concerns about whether the artwork was real. >> It is not OMA’s job to document the art. They came to us with a license from the top Basquiat specialists. In securing an FBI search obtained by WESH 2 NEWS, a special investigative agent said an art professor paid $60,000 to write a report on the group, but that her reporter’s report was later used widely with the public. So I emailed the museum director saying that she is in no way authorized to document unknown works by Basquiat and does not want any interference with this show. The next day, de Grofft responded by saying, “Do you want us to put in there, I got you $60,000 to write this?” okay then. Be Silent. You’ve used up money. Stop being holier than you. Be calm now is my best advice. This is real and legitimate. You know this. You are threatening the wrong people. >> I think it’s a shame. >> I spoke with Robert Whitman, founder of the FBI’s Technical Crime Task Force. Now that the FBI has the hand plates, Whitman says experts will forensically examine them. >> You’re looking for things like paints that might not have been in 1982, that would have been used at a later date, and you’re looking for background cardboard, back covers that aren’t age appropriate. >> WITTMAN SAYS Fakes are unexpected in the art world. >> I’d say 75% of the world’s art crime industry, a $6 billion industry, deals with fraud, forgery and forgery. Not theft. They are scams, fraud and >> – fakes.

CEO of Orlando Museum of Art unemployed after FBI raid

Updated: 4:36 PM EDT June 29, 2022

The CEO and director of the Orlando Museum of Art is out of work after the FBI raided the museum last week. Aaron de Groft was abandoned and Joan Walfish, previously CFO, was appointed COO temporarily. “The Orlando Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees is deeply concerned about several issues related to the Heroes and Monsters exhibition, including the recent disclosure of inappropriate email correspondence sent to academia regarding the authentication of some of the artwork in the exhibition,” the museum wrote in a statement. “We’ve launched a formal process to address these matters, because they go against this organization’s values, our business standards, and our standards of conduct.” During the raid last week, the FBI seized more than two dozen paintings attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat amid questions about their authenticity, Aaron de Groft defended the artwork amid questions first published by the New York Times in February, adding that it was not the museum’s job to document art . Senior Basquiat specialists,” de Groft told WESH in February.

Orlando, Florida –

CEO and Director of the Orlando Museum of Art is unemployed after The FBI raid of the museum last week.

Aaron de Groft was abandoned and Joan Walfish, previously CFO, was appointed COO temporarily.

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“The Orlando Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees is deeply concerned about several issues related to the Heroes and Monsters exhibition, including the recent disclosure of inappropriate email correspondence sent to academia regarding the authentication of some of the artwork in the exhibition,” the museum wrote in a statement. “We’ve launched a formal process to address these matters, because they go against this organization’s values, our business standards, and our standards of conduct.”

During the raid last week, the FBI seized more than two dozen paintings attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat amid questions about their authenticity.

Aaron de Groft Defend the artwork Amid questions, The New York Times first published in February.

He added that it is not the museum’s job to document art.

“They came to us after being certified by Basquiat’s top professionals,” De Groft told WESH in February.