The New York Times, Sunday, July 22, 2012 carried an interesting story. A work of art, the hybrid painting “Canyon,” created by the American artist Robert Rauschenberg, was bequeathed to Nina Sundell and Antonio Homem by their mother, a New York art dealer, Ileana Sonnabend, in 2007. What makes the painting interesting is that it contains a piece of sculpture (that is why it is a hybrid painting). In particular, the sculpture is a stuffed bald American eagle, a bird which is under federal protection. If the heirs tried to sell the painting, they would commit a felony. Thus, every major appraiser of the piece of art has appraised it at zero—that is, it is appraised as being worth zero dollars.
However, the Internal Revenue Service has appraised the painting at $65 million dollars, and has demanded of the owners that they pay the IRS $29.2 million dollars in taxes. The owners have taken the IRS to court. Suppose that you are the federal judge hearing this case.
How would you decide it? Why?