Guest Work Agency Assists With the Return of Missing Artworks

Image: Artwork by Jiaxin Nong. Photo by Justin McManus. Source: The Age/Sydney Morning Herald. 

Guest Work Agency’s Director and Founder Alana Kushnir recently assisted the Victorian Crimes Investigation Unit in identifying, cataloguing and returning missing artworks to eleven artists on a pro bono basis, after more than 70 artworks were discovered in connection with the ongoing investigation into art dealer Tristian Koenig.  

Since 2021, Guest Work Agency has been acting for numerous artists who had consigned artworks to Koenig’s gallery between 2012 - 2020, only for Koenig to either fail to adequately pay them for their sold artworks or to return them.  

The discovery by police and the recent return of the artworks marks an important moment of closure for the artists whose artworks were returned. As highlighted in Le Grand’s recent story in The Age, ‘The mystery of the missing art: Artists reunited with long-lost works,’ some of the artists involved had not seen their artworks for the better part of a decade. The article also discusses broader systemic issues within the commercial gallery industry, pointing to a lack of regulation and accountability that leaves artists largely unprotected.  

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Guest Work Agency is a boutique art law and advisory firm based in Melbourne, but is international in reach. It is the first dedicated art law practice in Australia, working with artists, collectors, galleries, arts organisations, art fairs and art tech start-ups. 

For more information, contact us at info@guestworkagency.art.