Manhattan Jury Awards Morgan Art Foundation $102.2 Million in Robert Indiana Dispute
A Manhattan federal jury has handed Morgan Art Foundation a sweeping victory in its long-running fight over Robert Indiana’s legacy, finding art publisher Michael McKenzie liable for making and selling unauthorized works tied to the Pop artist and awarding the foundation $102.2 million in damages. The verdict, delivered on April 23, deepens one of the most contentious authenticity battles in recent art-market memory.
The case has revolved around Indiana’s most recognizable imagery, especially “LOVE,” the stacked-letter composition that began as a painting in 1964 before becoming a sculpture, a U.S. postage stamp, and one of the most widely circulated images in postwar art. Morgan, which partnered with Indiana in 1999 and holds rights to “LOVE” and other works, argued that McKenzie and Jamie Thomas, the caretaker to whom Indiana granted power of attorney, exploited the artist in his final years. Both men have also been accused by Morgan of taking advantage of Indiana before his death on May 19, 2018.
The dispute began on May 18, 2018, a day before Indiana died, and quickly expanded into a tangle of claims involving fraud, copyright infringement, and estate control. Among the works at issue were later versions of “LOVE,” the Obama-era “HOPE” project McKenzie worked on with Indiana in 2008, and “BRAT,” a 2017 sculpture commissioned by a Wisconsin sausage company that closely echoes the earlier motif. Questions about Indiana’s direct involvement in some of these works have shadowed the market for years.
Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, Morgan’s attorney, said in an email that the jury’s decision “restores trust to the Robert Indiana market.” He added, “We exposed these forgeries, and protected the integrity of the artist’s legacy.”
The verdict may not end the litigation. McKenzie’s lawyer, Nicole Brenecki, said he is still considering whether to appeal. The broader dispute between Morgan and Thomas and the Indiana estate was settled in 2021, and Morgan has since aligned with Star of Hope, the foundation Indiana created to oversee his legacy after his death.
That effort now includes plans to convert Indiana’s former home into a museum and to stabilize a market that has been clouded by years of legal conflict. Indiana’s auction record has stood at just over $4 million since 2011, when it was set at Christie’s New York, according to Artnet’s Price Database. After decades of critical skepticism and relative retreat on Vinalhaven, Maine, Indiana received a major institutional reassessment with a 2013 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The latest verdict suggests that the struggle over authorship may shape how his work is seen, collected, and preserved for years to come.
