Suit to seek art of Dr. Death

Detroit News: Suit to seek art of Dr. Death

Kevorkian's executor: Museum won't send paintings for auction
Mike Martindale/ The Detroit News

Southfield — The executor for the estate of assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian will file a federal lawsuit today against a Boston-area museum, which has refused to hand over 17 paintings by the late pathologist.

Mayer Morganroth, Kevorkian's longtime friend and attorney, will seek triple damages against the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) for alleged theft and conversion of the oil paintings.

The artwork is scheduled to be auctioned off in New York City next week on behalf of Kevorkian's niece, Ava Janus of Troy, with a percentage earmarked for a charity benefitting children with cancer.

The goal, he said, is to have the legal battle brought to Michigan.

"It's ridiculous — ALMA is holding them captive," Morganroth said. "Because of his Armenian heritage, Jack thought that would be a good place and a safe place to keep them while he was away (in prison)."

Kevorkian, who died in June at age 83, was involved in 130 assisted suicides. He sparked an international "Right to Die" dialogue and went through five criminal trials before his conviction in 1999 in the death of Thomas Youk.

Morganroth said Kevorkian was concerned about the safety of his paintings after several were stolen from a California storage facility several years earlier.

"He would be rolling over in his grave at what they (museum officials) are doing," Morganroth said.

Morganroth said he and Kevorkian drew up a loan agreement with the museum in July 1999 that specifically laid out how the artwork was "the exclusive property of Dr. Kevorkian and on loan to ALMA."

"He went away to prison and got out in 2008. When he got paroled in 2010, he let them stay there for one show and then another," said Morganroth. "Then he got sick. About a year ago, we started talking about the possibility of selling off some of his collection in an auction."

Morganroth said he spoke with the initial curator, Gary Lind-Sinanian, about the auction more than two months ago and said he would be calling the museum back with the date the artwork was to be picked up.

"About a month ago I called back and was told I needed to speak to someone else there," said Morganroth. "Then suddenly nobody was returning my calls."

On Monday, Morganroth received a copy by certified mail of a lawsuit filed by ALMA in Middlesex County, Mass.

"It was incredible," said Morganroth. "They are basing their claim on comments allegedly made by Jack's sister, Flora, at one of their shows on how happy she was that his art had found a home. I don't know if she said that, but even if she did, she is not the owner of the artwork. And our binding agreement was that the art was on loan and nothing could be changed in that agreement without approval of Jack and me, or in Jack's absence — just me."

Morganroth said the auction Oct. 27-28 at the N.Y. Institute of Technology will go forward. "There are 120 items to be auctioned, including Jack's clothing, private papers, his (suicide) machine and some smaller paintings which he had at his apartment," said Morganroth. "And we will also have images of the paintings that won't be there."

Morganroth believes the legal battle with the museum has served only to increase the value of Kevorkian's art.

"What's ironic is Ava and I discussed possible charities Jack would have liked to support and we planned to make a donation from the auction to the museum," he said.

Visitors to the museum have reported the Kevorkian paintings are not even on display but "boxed up in a back room."

"This isn't about art, Jack or anything else," he said. "It's just about greed."