Displaying items by tag: james meyer

Dia Art Foundation has named art historian and curator James Meyer to fill two leadership posts as the New York-based nonprofit known for its cavernous exhibition space in Beacon, N.Y., works to reassert its presence in Chelsea.

In January Mr. Meyer, now an associate curator of modern art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will become Dia’s deputy director. He will also be chief curator, a newly created role that Dia’s director, Jessica Morgan, said reflected the foundation’s expanded scope.

A former longtime Jasper Johns assistant was ordered Thursday to spend 18 months behind bars after admitting he stole artworks from the pop artist's Connecticut studio and arranged for them to be sold by a Manhattan gallery for nearly $10 million.

James Meyer, 53, of Salisbury, Connecticut, was also ordered to pay $13 million in restitution and to forfeit $3.9 million.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken said he believed Meyer was genuinely remorseful and was primarily a "kind, caring, thoughtful" man who committed a serious offense, selling unauthorized artworks on at least three occasions from 2006 to 2011, pocketing more than $4 million.

James Meyer, a former studio assistant to the contemporary artist Jasper Johns, was charged with stealing 22 unauthorized works, which he then sold through an unnamed art gallery in Manhattan. Meyer, who worked at Johns’ studio in Connecticut from 1985 to 2012, made $3.4 million off of the sales, which totaled $6.4 million.

Meyer was assigned to protecting the works that Johns did not want sold but ended up creating fake inventory numbers and false documents for the paintings, which he photographed inside a binder that catalogued Johns’ authorized works. Meyer told the gallery in New York that he had received the paintings from Johns as a present and offered notarized documents that supported his claim.

Meyer, who was arrested at his home in Salisbury, CT on August 14, 2013, appeared in federal court in Hartford, CT where he was charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and wire fraud. The maximum prison sentences are 10 years for the stolen property charge and 20 years for wire fraud. Meyer was released on a $250,000 unsecured bond and will appear in federal court in Manhattan on or before August 23, 2013.

James Meyer, a former studio assistant to the contemporary artist Jasper Johns, was arrested on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 for stealing 22 unauthorized works, which he then sold through an unnamed art gallery in Manhattan. Meyer, who worked at Johns’ studio in Connecticut from 1985 to 2012, made $3.4 million off of the sales, which totaled $6.5 million.

Meyer was assigned to protecting the works that Johns did not want sold but ended up creating fake inventory numbers and false documents for the paintings, which he photographed inside a binder that catalogued Johns’ authorized works. Meyer told the gallery in New York that he had received the paintings from Johns as a present and offered notarized documents that supported his claim.

Meyer could spend anywhere from 10 to 20 years in prison and has been accused of transporting stolen good across state lines and wire fraud.