Art Law Blog: “Friends” Groups Do Push the Legal Envelope

Donn Zaretsky, in his indispensible Art Law Blog, almost (but not quite) grants my legal argument that American-based, foreign-museum “friends” groups are “mere conduits” of U.S. donations to foreign institutions and that contributions to them, and therefore are not properly eligible for U.S. tax deductions.
Why didn’t I follow my father’s footsteps to Harvard Law School?
Are there any U.S. museum lawyers out there who want to tackle this discussion? Many years ago, I mentioned my objections to Ashton Hawkins, then secretary and general counsel at the Metropolitan Museum. He disagreed with me, too, drawing the analogy to other U.S. groups that support international causes.