ivy;3429806 said:
looks like abraham lincoln and it's the hayvenhurst home - see the belt & mj in angel wings necklace in front of it - that's what joe and katherine was trying to sell before estate shut it down.
this is from copyright records
The Collected Works of Jackson-Strong Alliance.
Type of Work: Visual Material
Registration Number / Date: VAu001031864 / 2010-06-25
Application Title: The Collected Works of Jackson-Strong Alliance.
Title: The Collected Works of Jackson-Strong Alliance.
Description: Electronic file (eService)
Copyright Claimant: Brett-Livingstone Strong, 1953- , Transfer: By written agreement.
Date of Creation: 1988
Authorship on Application: Michael Joseph Jackson, 1958-2009; Domicile: United States; Citizenship: United States. Authorship: 2-D artwork.
Brett-Livingstone Strong, 1953- ; Domicile: United States; Citizenship: Australia. Authorship: 2-D artwork.
from this registration strong claims that michael gave up his copyright rights with a written agreement - could it be that he's referring to the tohme letter
Thank you Ivy ...that's extremely interesting.
I've been looking at another angle and came up with something that may be of relevance but maybe not. The original oil paintings, 'The book' and 'The lovers' are represented on this website:
http://www.michaeljacksonportrait.com/index.htm
This site gives the following information.... (There is an investor involved who bought part of BLS's collection...but I'm not clear if BLS still owns / part owns the original paintings or not...because of the reference to their use as collateral for the loans, which I thought were to BLS) )
'Only two actual portraits were ever sat for by Michael Jackson and painted by his chosen artist, Brett Livingstone Strong. Only two actually exist in the world. Only a limited few hundred serigraphs were made at the time and are signed by the artist Brett Livingstone Strong. Only 100 of the serigraphs are signed by both the artist and by Michael Jackson jointly. Only a handful have been released previously and when sold were done so by unverified sources in the few cases and have been sold. They were done without clear chain of title affecting their resale collectors value. Here at Michael Jackson Portrait.com and Michael Jackson Signature.com the rare signed prints have a clear and verifiable history. They have been carefully stored at the bequest of the Bank of New York, then GMAC to be held in a fine art storage temperature controlled facility. They are yet unreleased except for a few exceptions thus far.
The Fine Art Investors group has inigially invested in the collection to assist in remedying the defaulted loans which were to be utiized in the once proposed grand venture of building a large statue of an Angel in the City of Los Angeles. After an eminent doman matter reclaimed the proposed land the project never got it's wings. The Angel may have it's day in a special location one day, but we cannot speculate as to when, where or with any certainty'
'The artist may sell other art to fans of his work. However any work within one of these two collectors, collection belongs to that collector. In this case because of the enormity of the print collection along with the original collector's right to maintain value, all reproduction rights were assigned to the collector to protect the assets purcchased from dilution by the artist or any other party. Any reprrint of either of the two original Michael Jackson art portraits may be reproduced in print form by only one of the collectors which has the exclusive reproduction rights of both paintings along with all art within the collection at the time of it's sale.
The exclusive rights were transferred from the Bank of New York and GMAC to the collector by a trustee of the US Federal Court. They have not only the copyright protection of the US government but have been clearly authorized by the US Federal Court System as a key component of maintaining one of the the collectors investment. So the answer is that no other person may sell any reprints of the Michael Jackson portraits other than one of the two collectors we represent here on this site. '
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4189/is_20100709/ai_n54464239/
Seeking to finance a grandiose project called the "City of Angels" - an attempt to replicate the spirit of the Statue of Liberty on the West Coast - Strong put up his entire collection, including the serigraphs, as collateral.In April 2007, Patisso picked up the serigraphs and some other works by Strong. He won't say what he paid for them, noting that the totality of Strong's collection was then valued at $7.2 million.
If these loans still need to be settled, then sale of some valuable MJ art would potentially be very helpful.
(The Angel was a proposed landmark building for Los Angeles, with an angel holding a sword on top. ...the estimated building costs ballooned from $1. something to $3. something billion, at which point the project was dropped. However, it seems that a landbank had been commenced and that architectural models had been developed. The Dubai architectural drawings include a 'crystal tower' that appears to be based on the same design)
More from last August:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4405924.htm
New York, New York (PRWEB) August 20, 2010
In 2007, Matteo Patisso, a NY entrepreneur, acquired the complete art collection created by world-renowned architect, sculptor and painter Brett-Livingstone Strong, whom the late Michael Jackson called the "modern day Michelangelo". Purchasing this art collection, once appraised by the Bank of New York for more than $100,000,000, was seen by Matteo as a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity. The collection includes 560 signed serigraphs of a high-end autographed collectible called "The Book" (the only portrait Michael Jackson personally sat for during his lifetime), many of Strong's original paintings, thousands of beautiful limited edition lithographs and several sculptures as well as the reproduction rights of Strong's artwork.
In 1998, Strong pledged his collection to the Bank of NY in order to secure a $36,000,000 line of credit for The City of Angels project. That "City within a City" was to include a 176' tall Angel of Freedom monument, planned to be the west coast's equivalent of the Statue of Liberty - but 26' taller. Unfortunately, the project did not come to fruition at that time. In 2007, Matteo saw a golden and rare opportunity for his company, Liquid Brick, to acquire the collection from GMAC (Bank of NY's assignee). The City of Angels project was Strong's plan to create "The Greatest Art Show on Earth"- the creation of the largest bronze statue in view of the general public. The sculpting of the 25' face of the Angel alone, modeled after the late Princess Diana, would have been such a huge artistic undertaking, that Strong knew it would have inspired anyone to envision the scale and sheer magnitude of the finished monument. Already, two artists in CA, commissioned by Matteo, have written a poem and a song in preparation for its announcement.
"I acquired the art collection from GMAC primarily for its intrinsic value but also to provide the artist's new investors an opportunity to acquire it and obtain financing to begin the construction of the 25' face of the Angel in Central Park, NYC", explains Matteo. "By giving the artist a second chance at building his visionary monument, something he is now achieving, he would have greatly influenced and inspired NY, CA, America and then [ideally] the rest of the world." "The timing is impeccable" he adds, "A project like this can not only create many thousands of jobs, it can ignite a renaissance".
Matteo also envisioned how this artist's patriotic monuments, created in the 80's for President Ronald Reagan could influence America's constitutionally-founded future with planned philanthropic projects as the Spirit of Freedom Tour (
http://www.spiritoffreedomtour.org).
Matteo explained," when Strong was prolific and at the peak of his career, this artist would command at least $5,000 for one limited edition lithograph and as much as $150,000 for an original painting however "The Book" sold for $2,100,000. Unlocking the value of this collection via auction houses, corporate sales, global collectors, or partnering with candidates in the non-for-profit sector to help them raise funds for worthwhile causes, should prove to be exciting and rewarding for participants".
Currently, Strong's full time focus is dedicated again to the realization of the "Statue of Freedom" in CA - essentially engineering his comeback - his legacy. As a result,
he is no longer creating any abstracts, portraits, paintings or signing new limited edition prints thereby freezing his supply and preserving the value of his work. If you would like more information on Brett-Livingston Strong and his collection, or to purchase any of Strong's work, call (516) 578-3456 or visit,
http://www.thebookportrait.com, or
http://www.fineartinvestors.com.