New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 (2026)

Artist-art merchant relationships

✓ current as of May 2026

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§ 12.01. Artist-art merchant relationships. 1. Notwithstanding any
custom, practice or usage of the trade, any provision of the uniform
commercial code or any other law, statute, requirement or rule, or any
agreement, note, memorandum or writing to the contrary:
  (a) Whenever an artist or craftsperson, or a successor in interest of
such artist or craftsperson, delivers or causes to be delivered a work
of fine art, craft or a print of such artist's or craftsperson's own
creation to an art merchant for the purpose of exhibition and/or sale on
a commission, fee or other basis of compensation, the delivery to and
acceptance thereof by the art merchant establishes a consignor/consignee
relationship as between such artist or craftsperson, or the successor in
interest of such artist or craftsperson, and such art merchant with
respect to the said work, and:
  (i) such consignee shall thereafter be deemed to be the agent of such
consignor with respect to the said work;
  (ii) such work is trust property in the hands of the consignee for the
benefit of the consignor;
  (iii) any proceeds from the sale of such work are trust funds in the
hands of the consignee for the benefit of the consignor;
  (iv) such work shall remain trust property notwithstanding its
purchase by the consignee for his own account until the price is paid in
full to the consignor; provided that, if such work is resold to a bona
fide third party before the consignor has been paid in full, the resale
proceeds are trust funds in the hands of the consignee for the benefit
of the consignor to the extent necessary to pay any balance still due to
the consignor and such trusteeship shall continue until the fiduciary
obligation of the consignee with respect to such transaction is
discharged in full; and
  (v) such trust property and trust funds shall be considered property
held in statutory trust, and no such trust property or trust funds shall
become the property of the consignee or be subject or subordinate to any
claims, liens or security interest of any kind or nature whatsoever of
the consignee's creditors.
  (b) Waiver of any provision of this section is absolutely void except
that a consignor may lawfully waive the provisions of clause (iii) of
paragraph (a) of this subdivision, if such waiver is clear, conspicuous,
in writing, in words which clearly and specifically apprise the
consignor that the consignor is waiving rights under this section with
respect to proceeds from the sale of the consignor's work, and
subscribed by the consignor, provided:
  (i) no such waiver shall be valid with respect to the first two
thousand five hundred dollars of gross proceeds of sales received in any
twelve-month period commencing with the date of the execution of such
waiver;
  (ii) no such waiver shall be valid with respect to the proceeds of a
work initially received on consignment but subsequently purchased by the
consignee directly or indirectly for his own account; and
  (iii) no such waiver shall inure to the benefit of the consignee's
creditors in any manner which might be inconsistent with the consignor's
rights under this subdivision.
  (c) Proceeds from the sale of consigned works covered by this section
shall be deemed to be revenue from the sale of tangible goods and not
revenue from the provision of services to the consignor or others,
except that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to proceeds
from the sale of consigned works sold at public auction.
  2. If a consignee fails to treat the trust property or trust funds
identified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section in
accordance with the requirements of fiduciaries in section 11-1.6 of the
estates, powers and trusts law, such failure shall constitute a
violation of this article and of section 11-1.6 of the estates, powers
and trusts law and shall be subject to the penalties provided therein.
  3. Any person who has been injured by reason of a violation of this
article may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such
unlawful act, to recover his or her actual damages, or both. The court
may award reasonable attorneys' fees, costs and expenses to a prevailing
plaintiff in any such action.
  4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to have any effect upon
any written or oral contract or arrangement in existence prior to
September first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine or to any extensions or
renewals thereof except by the mutual written consent of the parties
thereto.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 10 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1996–2022 · leading case: Scher v. Stendhal Gallery, Inc., 117 A.D.3d 146 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014).

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Scher v. Stendhal Gallery, Inc., 117 A.D.3d 146 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). · cites it 8× “Although the motion court adopted Scher’s contention that the question of the ownership of the prints is resolved in her favor by Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01, as construed in Wesselmann v International Images ( 172 Misc 2d 247 [1996], affd 259 AD2d 448 [1st Dept 1999],…”

Zucker v. Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., 170 Misc. 2d 426 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1996). · cites it 5× “The primary issue which this court must resolve on this motion is whether Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 (1) (a) (v) forbids the Gallery’s claimed security interest in the plaintiff artist’s works thereby mandating the return of said artwork to plaintiff.”

Wesselmann v. Int'l Images, Inc., 172 Misc. 2d 247 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1996). · cites it 4× “The issue presented by this motion is whether under Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 the publisher and seller of prints is an art merchant, as defined in the statute, who holds the prints and the proceeds from their sale in trust for the benefit of the artist.”

Grosz v. Serge Sabarsky, Inc., 24 A.D.3d 264 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005). · cites it 2× “Even if the $191,500 represented an advance against commissions instead of the purchase price for 93 works, defendant would not be able to set off the $191,500 against the appraisal award (see Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 [1] [a] [v]; Zucker v Hirschl & Adler Galleries,…”

Wesselmann v. Int'l Images, Inc., 259 A.D.2d 448 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). · cites it 2× “Appeal by defendants Karla MacKay, Graphics and DAL from the order entered February 14, 1997, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as these defendants defaulted on the original motion (172 Mise 2d 247, 248, n). The motion court properly granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary…”

Koeniges v. Woodward, 183 Misc. 2d 347 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct. 2000). · cites it 4× “Plaintiff argues that this court must award punitive damages on his conversion claim because Justice Miller granted him summary judgment on his replevin claim and dismissed defendants’ counterclaim for a declaratory judgment that they could retain the photographs, having found…”

Art Works, Inc. v. Al-Hadid, 2022 NY Slip Op 05585 (N.Y. App. Div. 2022). “the delivery to and acceptance thereof by the art merchant establishes a consignor/consignee relationship" (Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 [1] [a]).”

Mesbahi v. Blood, 2019 NY Slip Op 3716 (N.Y. App. Div. 2019). · cites it 3× “Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 defines the parameters of the "artist-art merchant relationship.”

Wesselmann v. Int'l Images, Inc., 38 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1780 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1996). “Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 12.01 (1) provides that: "(a) Whenever an artist * * * delivers or causes to be delivered * * * a print of his own creation to an art merchant for the purpose of exhibition and/or sale on a commission, fee or other basis of compensation, the…”

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