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Christie's and the Bogus Basquiat
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 19, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 19, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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One would think that dropping some serious cash at a high end auction house would be a safe bet. Today it's being reported that an art dealer in Chelsea did just that and ended up with a counterfeit piece! Christie's is now being faced with a $7 million lawsuit that charges them with knowingly selling the art dealer a fake Jean-Michel Basquiat painting. Page Six reports:
Tony Shafrazi, who was Basquiat's primary dealer, says he bought the 1982 untitled piece from Christie's in 1990 for $242,000, and resold it a year later to collector Guido Orsi.
In his suit filed this month in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Iranian-born dealer, who has a gallery on West 26th Street, claims Christie's knew the painting was a fraud - having been told so earlier by the artist's Haitian father, Gerard Jean-Baptiste Basquiat - but sold it anyway.
The Brooklyn-born artist's pieces are worth a lot these days, and recently an untitled 1981 work sold at Sotheby's for $14.6 million. The case arose after a Basquiat authentication committee rejected the piece...so we sort of wonder if they got some ideas from the Warhol committee.
Photo of a Basquiat piece sold at Christie's (via).
Tagged
art
brooklyn
Chelsea
christie's
court
fraud
gossip
lawsuit
manhattan
Manhattan Supreme Court
Michel Basquiat
page six
supreme court
The Brooklyn
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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