Art Institute of Chicago Resolves Claims Over Faux Faun

CHICAGO—The Art Institute of Chicago has resolved its claims for restitution for a fake Paul Gauguin sculpture of The Faun it bought 10 years ago, the Chicago Tribune reports. The museum purchased the small ceramic sculpture in 1997 for $290,000 from English art dealer Libby Howie, who had acquired it three years earlier at Sotheby's for about $30,000. The work, widely accepted by scholars as a Gauguin, turned out to be one of the bogus sculptures created by the recently sentenced art-forging Greenhalgh family of northern England. The British court has said buyers of the fakes could submit claims for restitutions, and a judge suggested the institute seek redress from Howie first. But the court claim was withdrawn on Wednesday, according to a museum spokeswoman. The institute said the matter had been resolved. Sotheby's spokesman Matthew Weigman said the auction house, which will submit claims for a number of Greenhalgh fakes it sold, played a role in the agreement, but he didn't give further details.