Ohio Court Decides Fate of $650,000 Mural

At least for now, a museum in Ohio gets to keep a highly prized mural painted by one of the world’s greatest living artists.

The 11th District Court of Appeals has ruled that The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH is the rightful owner of a $650,000 mural after three years of contested ownership, The Vindicator reports.

The dispute over the ceramic tile mural, painted by 102-year-old French artist Pierre Soulages, began in November 2019 when the Butler museum moved out of a building that was funded by Foundation Medici.

The mural, however, stayed behind after the foundation filed a lawsuit which argued the mural was a permanent fixture of the building and that money was raised for the property with the understanding the artwork would remain there.

Butler Executive Director Louis Zona told the outlet he is “overjoyed” with the ruling and that he was “pretty confident” the Butler museum owned the mural.

Foundation Medici will consider filing an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court. If it decides not to appeal, the parties will move on to discussing the mural’s removal.

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Read more at The Vindicator.