Tangled Web of the Matter “Pollocks” Gets More Convoluted

UPDATE: Turns out it’s the Boston Globe that’s going to run a clarification tomorrow.
Confusion continues to cloud the controversy over the Matter “Pollocks”—not only regarding their attribution, but also concerning the accuracy of the NY Times‘ story yesterday on the controversy.
Randy Kennedy indicated in yesterday’s Times that dealer Ronald Feldman had bought some of the paintings:
The [Pollock-Krasner] foundation’s chairman, Charles Bergman, was told by the SoHo gallery owner Ronald Feldman at a lunch in January 2006 that he had bought an unspecified number of the paintings outright and owned some jointly with Mr. Matter, according to the foundation’s lawyer, Ronald Spencer….Mr. Feldman declined to comment about the paintings. It is unclear how much he paid for them; it is also unclear if he still owns any of them or whether he has sold any to collectors.
(Note that Kennedy said it was “unclear if he STILL owns any of them, not if he had EVER owned them.)
According to Geoff Edgers‘ report in today’s Boston Globe, Matter “told the Globe by phone yesterday that he has not sold any of the paintings” and “that Feldman does not own any of the paintings.” Kennedy had tried to reach Matter, but was referred to his lawyer, who was unhelpful.
Read more on Edgers’ blog, The Exhibitionist, and in his story today in the Boston Globe.
And keep an eye on the NY Times Corrections section. At minimum, they should correct the editors’ headline for Kennedy’s story: The dispute is over attribution, not “provenance.”