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Kevorkian's paintings at center of lawsuit

"Nearer my god to thee" by Jack Kevorkian.
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Photo courtesy of Ariana Gallery

The late JackKevorkian’s paintings are at the center of a lawsuit headed to Oakland County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

The dispute is over 17 of Kevorkian’s paintings.

Mayer Morganroth is executor of Kevorkian’s estate. He says Kevorkian loaned his paintings in 1999 to the Armenian Library and Museum of America (Alma) for safe keeping until Kevorkian got out of prison.

Museum officials say the assisted suicide advocate donated the paintings and they’ve owned them ever since.

So Morganroth is suing to get the paintings returned to Kevorkian's estate:

"The lawsuit we filed is strictly to have them pay treble damages, return the paintings for their unlawful conversion, and for the misrepresentations that they perpetrated."

The paintings were to go on auction last October, but couldn’t because of the dispute. Morganroth said the 17 paintings are worth around $3 million, according to an appraiser.

 

 

Jennifer is a reporter for Michigan Radio's State of Opportunity project, which looks at kids from low-income families and what it takes to get them ahead. She previously covered arts and culture for the station, and was one of the lead reporters on the award-winning education series Rebuilding Detroit Schools. Prior to working at Michigan Radio, Jennifer lived in New York where she was a producer at WFUV, an NPR station in the Bronx.
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