In a decision that should bring some relief to art experts, the German art historian and the former director of the Centre Pompidou, Werner Spies, no longer has to pay a fee for mistakenly authenticating a painting as a genuine work by Max Ernst. On 3 December, the Versailles Court of Appeal overturned a 2013 ruling against Spies that ordered him to reimburse the collector Louis Reijtenbagh for a work that turned out to be a fake produced by the forger Wolfgang Beltracchi.
