From Pollocks to NFTs: The 12 Cases That Shaped Art Litigation in 2025

The art world spent much of 2025 not unveiling masterpieces but unsealing court documents, as if the industry had drifted into a year-long deposition. What began as the usual background hum of disputes swelled into something grander: collectors accusing advisers, advisers suing one another, estates defending colors, sneaker companies parsing securities law, and even a SoHo garden insisting—quite earnestly—that it is a work of art entitled to federal protection. It was a year in which everyone, from billionaires to anonymous artists, seemed determined to prove that the only medium more enduring than bronze is litigation.