Journals
Monday,Oct 26 2009, 06:39:53 PMPark West Gallery Caught
Between a Rock and a Hard Place?
More Litigation Updates
Is Park West Gallery attempting to cut its captive self-proclaimed Dalí authenticator, Bernard Ewell, adrift?
Up a Creek Without a Paddle
On September 19, 2009, Park West Gallery filed a Motion to Sever Bernard Ewell from the Federal litigation. What is a Motion to Sever and what does all this mean? In general, a Motion to Sever a party (in this case Ewell) from a lawsuit entails asking a Judge for one case to be divided into two different cases so they can be tried separately. This is never efficient for the courts or for the parties involved. But this is precisely the type of underhanded tactics that Park West Gallery has employed from the beginning.
Fine Art Registry® believes that Park West Gallery has a specific strategic reason for pulling this latest legal maneuver and it's not what you might think. Remember, nothing is as it seems with Park West Gallery, and its lawyers are always scrambling to dream up creative ways to intimidate, and spend to death, anyone who opposes them. They figure the more they can get people to jump through their endless dreamed-up legal hoops, the better chance they have of breaking them financially and shutting them up. And trust us when we say that Park West and its lawyers blur the line between fact and fiction in the extreme.
Tuesday,Sep 15 2009, 04:46:28 PMMore on the Inadequacies of Bernard Ewell Straig..
- Bernard Ewell, June 1997
Throughout the Fine Art Registry® investigation into cruise ship art auctions, and in particular, the bad business practices of Park West Gallery, representatives of Park West have repeatedly (when it is convenient for them to do so) through varying media attempted to defame, slander, disparage, decimate, and lay waste to the good name and reputation of Albert Field, Founder and Director of the Salvador Dali Archives in New York and author of "The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dali". One of the Park West Gallery representatives leading the charge against Albert Field and his successor, Frank Hunter, is Bernard Ewell, an appraiser and his own biggest fan.
To illustrate, we set forth a few of the recent offending quotes written by Ewell about Albert Field and taken straight from his blog which, by the way, is prominently linked to and promoted by his lord and master's web site, Park West Gallery:
- "Albert Field's bogus 'Salvador Dalí Archives' and massively flawed files."
- "Albert Field and head of the sham Salvador Dalí Archives."
- "A future posting will take a close look at 'The Tragedy of Albert Field and His Scatalog of Dalí Prints'."
- "...the very shaky credibility of Albert Field, [and] his scatalog...."
- "...Albert Field's flawed files."
- "...if you, like me, had known Albert Field, visited his squalid apartment in Astoria, New York (the archives) and watched him examine a print attributed to Dalí without having any of the skill to know what he was looking at."
Tuesday,Sep 15 2009, 03:37:11 PMPark West Gallery's not-so-flattering Exhibit: I..
The National Law Journal - Law.com
On Thursday, September 3, 2009, Law.com - The National Law Journal published an article about the growing lawsuit collection against Michigan-based Park West Gallery. Read the full story online at Law.com
Customers cry "fake," and art dealer yells "defamation"
Tresa Baldas - The National Law Journal
A Michigan-based art gallery has a not-so-flattering exhibit that keeps growing: a collection of lawsuits... read more
Park West Gallery's Dancing Bear
The Ever Expanding Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection
The National Law Journal just published an article written by Tresa Baldas, highlighting the many lawsuits recently filed against Park West Gallery, its CEO Albert Scaglione, and his Empire of companies. It is interesting to note that in the many articles that have exposed Park West Gallery over the last two years or more, we rarely seem to hear from the man himself, Albert Scaglione, except for the comment in the NY Times article which we are sure he would just as soon everyone forget. Like the Wizard of Oz, he hides behind the curtain. Granted, this is a law related article and it only makes sense to quote the attorneys representing the respective parties, but Bob Goldman (an ex-criminal prosecutor) and Park West Gallery's Public Relations spokesman (the Dancing Bear - a front man), is far from being the gallery's "lead" attorney in the case. As far as we can deduce, Goldman was hired solely to tout his "ex-assistant U.S. Attorney status" to give Park West the appearance of having an "important" legal team and to fool the public into believing that Goldman has some sort of "status" with Federal authorities and that somehow his involvement absolves Park West from any appearance of wrong doing, but don't let that fool you for a minute. It's all smoke and mirrors folks. Fine Art Registry® knows the truth.
Tuesday,Sep 1 2009, 09:10:30 PMThe Park West Gallery Gang Smacked....
with Another
Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit
NO. 6 AND COUNTING
On July 24, 2009, Plaintiff Sean Mullen brought a lawsuit in Michigan Federal Court in what amounts to the sixth nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Park West Gallery 
and all its various affiliates including, PWG Florida, Fine Art Sales,
Vista Fine Art, and Park West at Sea. Rounding out the named Park West
Gallery defendants in the Mullen lawsuit is Park West Gallery CEO
Albert Scaglione who is alleged by Mullen to be "the prime architect of
the fraud and conspiracy." Other named defendants include Royal
Caribbean, Holland America, and Carnival Cruise Lines. The Mullen
lawsuit is provided here in its entirety.
Sean Mullen resides in Washington, D.C. He purchased artwork from Park West at shipboard auctions on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2003 and a Holland America cruise in 2005. Mullen alleges that "because of the illegal actions of Defendants, the art auctions...were anything but fun, and Plaintiff and the Class...lost millions of dollars as a result of purchasing works of 'art' on the Cruise Lines."
Wednesday,Aug 12 2009, 06:15:47 PMClass Action Lawsuit No. 5 Filed Against At Sea...
Or the Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection
On July 29, 2009, nationwide class action lawsuit No. 5 was filed against Park West Gallery and its affiliates (PWG Florida, Fine Art Sales, Vista Fine Art, and Park West at Sea). Also named personally for his active involvement with the alleged deceptive and fraudulent schemes and practices is Park West Gallery's CEO Albert Scaglione. Also being sued this time around is Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc, and Carnival Cruise Line.
It won't be long before the "Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection" will rival the Park West Gallery art collection. Perhaps Al Scaglione and Morris Shapiro should print a few thousand copies of these lawsuits, hand sign them, and start selling them on the cruise ships as "unique variations", embellished of course with dibs and dabs of misrepresentation, lies, and deceit - and self-appraised by Al and Morry, too. What a deal!
Class action lawsuit No. 5
filed on behalf of Plaintiffs Donald and Joyce Hatter of Lincroft, New
Jersey, and others similarly situated, comes hot on the on the heels of
the July 22, 2009 class action lawsuit filed
on behalf of Plaintiffs Bruce and Patricia Alleman of Waukegan,
Illinois, as well as other plaintiffs who find themselves in the same
position. The 55+ page lawsuit is provided here on Fine Art Registry® in its entirety along with supporting exhibits.
Class action lawsuit No. 5 was filed by lawyers E. Powell Miller and Marc L. Newman of The Miller Law Firm, P.C., and Steven A. Schwartz of Chimicles & Tikellis, LLP. Also of counsel are Denise Davis Schwartzman and Kimberly A. Sanders of the same firm.
The latest lawsuit alleges that Park West Gallery and its affiliates under the control and direction of CEO Albert Scaglione, "voluntarily and knowingly joined and conspired" with Carnival Corporation (Carnival Cruise Line and related entities) "to feature the Park West art auctions on its cruises." All of them acting in a "scheme as alleged" which "violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act ('RICO'), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and the state common and statutory laws entitling Plaintiffs and the Class to damages."
