Irina Tarsis
Irina Tarsis, Founder & Managing Director, Center for Art Law
Irina is an attorney, advisor, and an educator focused on art law, copyright and fair use, cultural heritage and commercial law. She is the founding member of the Center for Art Law (NY, USA) and currently serves on the Faculty of the Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London) and the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC), teaching art and museum law courses. She is the author "Reputation is no Substitute to Due Diligence: Lessons from the Closure of the Knoedler Gallery (1857-2011)," (Fall 2017) and "20th Century Shadows over the 21st c. Art Field: Lasting effect on nationalization and sales of Art from the USSR to the West," (Fall 2016)". Forthcoming publications include a chapter on Moral Rights in The Art Law Review. Irina is a frequent speaker about copyright and provenance research, and has published extensively on issues related to artist-dealer relationships, due diligence, and ethics.
Irina’s law practice has included litigation and dispute resolution as well as transactional work on behalf of artists and galleries. She is a member of the Responsible Art Market Initiative (New York Section Steering Committee). She has participated as faculty and judge at law school- and Bar Association-sponsored Moot Court competitions and conferences, and has conducted training at the Provenance Research Training programs in Vilnius, Rome and Athens. She was appointed to the Arbitration and Mediation pools of CAfA in November 2022.
She is Past Chair of the American Society of International Law, Cultural Heritage and the Arts Group (2012-2015), Co-Chair of the New York County Bar Association Art Law Committee (2016-2018) and member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section. She the Professional Advisors to the Art Sanct Task Force formed by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
Irina’s educational background includes: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D. with focus on commercial arbitration, ADR and international law); Harvard University (M.L.A.); University of Virginia (B.S.).
Jurisdiction: U.S.A.