## Facts

- Collectors, including Dr. Arthur Weisz, bought paintings at public auctions conducted by Parke-Bernet Galleries in 1962 and 1964.
- The auction catalogue attributed certain paintings to Raoul Dufy, and buyers paid substantial prices for them.
- The catalogue’s conditions of sale prominently disclaimed any express or implied warranty, including as to authenticity and accuracy of catalogue attributions.
- Years later, after a law-enforcement investigation, buyers learned the paintings were forgeries with negligible commercial value.
- Buyers sought rescission and return of the purchase price; Parke-Bernet refused, relying on the disclaimer and caveat emptor.
- The trial court found buyers relied on the Dufy attributions, would not have purchased absent that belief, and that Parke-Bernet also believed the works were genuine at the time of sale.

## Issues

1. Whether catalogue attributions of authorship at a public auction created an express warranty of authenticity despite a conspicuous disclaimer of warranties.
2. Whether buyers could recover on an implied-warranty theory of authenticity where the auction terms disclaimed express and implied warranties.
3. Whether, absent fraud or willful deception, buyers assumed the risk of non-authenticity under caveat emptor when purchasing at auction subject to such terms.

## Decision

- The Appellate Term reversed the judgment for the buyers and entered judgment for Parke-Bernet.
- The court held the catalogue disclaimer effectively negated any express or implied warranty of authenticity under the law governing the 1962 and 1964 sales.
- With no showing of willful deception and with the auction conducted subject to conspicuous no-warranty terms, caveat emptor controlled and the buyers bore the risk that the works were not authentic.

## Legal Principles

- Where auction terms conspicuously disclaim express and implied warranties, an auction house’s catalogue attribution of authorship does not, by itself, create an enforceable warranty of authenticity.
- Absent a recognized statutory or decisional implied warranty of authenticity applicable at the time of sale, a buyer cannot convert an innocent misattribution into warranty liability when the contract disclaims warranties.
- In public auction sales conducted under clear no-warranty terms, and without proof of fraud or willful deception, the purchaser assumes the risk that an artwork may be inauthentic.

## Conclusion

The court allocated the loss from forged artworks to the buyers because the auction sale was made subject to prominent no-warranty conditions and there was no proof of fraudulent conduct by the auction house.


Weisz v. Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 351 N.Y.S.2d 911 (N.Y. App. Term 1974)