India, Sept. 25 -- Raja Ravi Varma's Kadambari (1906). OK, Ravi Varma made anywhere between 2,000 to 7,000 works before he died in 1906. His final oil-on-canvas won't be on view any time soon. It's trapped in a Rs.100-crore ownership lawsuit and fraud dispute before the Delhi High Court and is chilling at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. The OG owner, Mohinder Varma, approached the HC after discovering that his associates had tried to smuggle the treasure to Australia behind his back.

Damien Hirst's For the Love of God (2007). This human skull, cast in platinum and studded with 8,601 diamond crystals, is owned by a consortium that includes Hirst himself. Some public museums have been wary of displaying it, because of its precious materials...