Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column from original scoops. If you have any advice, email Annie Armstrong at [email protected].
TWO COMPANY, THREE IS A CROWD
Remember André Sakhai? For the uninitiated, he is a collector and the son of Ely SakhaiTHE well-known art dealer who was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for selling forged art to collectors while taking away the original piece and its certificate of authenticity. (Ely maintains his innocence, of course.) André is also the godfather of the child of convicted fraudster Inigo Philbrick-although Philbrick too fucked him concerning the co-ownership of a Wade Guyton piece that Sakhai had purchased a $350,000 stake. Now, according to court documents acquired by Fresh paintSakhai is caught up in his own legal mess.
In a complaint filed with New York State Supreme Court on February 9, a customer from Richard Golub company, led by the noted—and somewhat infamous—lawyer for art stars like Niarchos family, rhythm gallery, THE NahmadsAnd Apartment Georgesues Sakhai for partial ownership of a piece of (drum roll please) Anna Weyant.
It’s complicated, guys. The assertions and counterclaims here provide insight into the kinds of tantalizing machinations surrounding today’s top stars and the kinds of disputes that can arise from those machinations.
According to the complaint, Sakhai, through his company Aiden Fine Arts (which operated under the name The art collectionand go hereinafter abbreviated by the acronym AFTAC), “has abused and continues to abuse the corporate form by dominating and controlling the affairs and assets of AFTAC, freely transferring funds between AFTAC and [Andre Sakhai].” The complaint goes on to call AFTAC a “front company” used “to advance [Sakhai’s] personal interests and not the legitimate business interests of AFTAC. Adding a dramatic twist to otherwise dry legalese, the complaint asserts that “the defendants [Andre Sakhai] and AFTAC were and are alter egos of each other.
Golub’s client, who is not named in the complaint, alleges he bought the portrait of Anna Weyant from a fellow painter Cynthia Talmade in May 2022 for a total sum of $606,000, split in three parts between another third party and Sakhai, with each collector paying around $200,000 for the coin.
That, he goes on to suggest, was fine, until the fall auctions rolled around. The co-owners have agreed to put the piece up for auction at Philip London and share the product (talk about a quick ride). Only problem? At auction, the piece did not go wild like other Weyant works have historicallyand hammered for just £240,000, which came out at around £302,400 after costs (about $335,000 at the time) – considerably less than what they bought it for.
Court documents then allege that Sakhai waived Phillips’ wire transfer and left the other two parties on hold. Golub’s plaintiff requests that no less than $110,816.48 be returned to him.
It’s their side. On the other hand, last week, Sakhai’s team filed a response to the lawsuit, denying accusations of withholding the other two parties’ slice of the pie, summarizing that “any damage suffered by the plaintiff was caused in whole or in part by the acts and omissions of Plaintiff himself… all of whose acts and omissions were beyond the control of Defendant.” Further, Sakhai’s response stated that Plaintiff is not entitled to any exemplary damages, as “defendants have at all times acted in good faith and on reasonable grounds to believe that their conduct was not wrongful, tortious or illegal” (Sakhai also brought four counterclaims accusing the client of Golub for having wrongly selected two other works in which AFTAC claims participation.)
Simply put, Sakhai basically told the other two parties that it was their fault and they should go cry about it.
Which account will win? That’s for the law to decide. What I will say is that even though I myself have added to the tradition of Anna Weyant’s very singular market trajectory, I find it quite appalling how many people are blatantly making money from it. These documents suggest that the three owners of Cynthia came out a good chunk of change after trying to put his work up for auction so I definitely have some schadenfreude on Weyant’s behalf, which recently continued Eileen Kellythe podcast of and described feeling “like a racehorse” during auction season.
THE POWER OF THIS PAINTING ENGAGES YOU
Of all the bizarre cultural moments in American history, one of the most fascinating to me is the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Rosemary’s baby-style paganism came from the silly fringes of society, compared to now, where the kind of people making these accusations are actually in government (see, the “QAnon huddle» at the congress, etc).
In any case, over the weekend demonic dealings of a more innocuous type arose, involving a young painter named Joseph Herbert In Los Angeles.
For the God-fearing set, this weekend was Palm Sunday. After a service in Culver City, I received an alarmed missive from an unlikely corner of culture: a woman named Tashna Shawwho described having visited Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church when terror struck: “A teenager walked into our church yesterday and was very loud and hostile,” she said. “He went straight ahead and his friends started photographing him holding a canvas of the devil…. It was an awful experience and especially doing this on Palm Sunday is so awful!!”
But don’t worry too much! A church representative stated that no mass was interrupted, nor were there any corresponding possessions caused by the presence of the painting in the church. So while the table (which, I should add, is titled Kill3r) was perhaps satanic, it looks like there wasn’t so much panic.
Like many artists referring to Satan before him (see: Leonora Carrington, etc.), Herbert seems to have simply wanted to shake things up. The young troublemaker, who apparently works mostly in video art, told Wet Paint via email: “I like to explore the darkness of humanity in my work and the hypocrisy of us humans.
Amen to that, my brother.
WE HEAR
https://t.co/9eQ47aiPcL pic.twitter.com/bfcOPXu8He
— Arto Lindsay’s Negro (@ineffablemimi) April 3, 2023
A new Twitter trend brought to mind what is perhaps jerry saltcringest tweet ever… TribecaIt is Margot Samel added five new artists to their roster at once: Olivia Jia, Kris Lemsalu, Sarah Margetti, NarcissistAnd Stephen Polach… THE guggenheim museum acquired My home is where my teepee is by Wendy red star… Serge Gainsbourgthe House of Paris finally opens as a dedicated museum in September 2023 after a false promise of opening in 2022 (expect Wet Paint will probably be on vacation the week it opens)… Abso Lutely Productionswho produced cult TV shows like Nathan for you And Tim and Ericready Chloe Sage a helping hand in the creation of his new video work for Art BaselIt is Journey section this year… This year Herb Alpert Award take place on Zoomwhich I didn’t really think was happening yet, but okay… Opera Gallery opens a space in the new Atlantis the Royal resort in Dubai (you know, the one where Beyonce played his first show in five years, much to the dismay of almost all of his fans who don’t live in Dubai)… Apparently Jonas Wood And Pharrell both refused Yusaku Maezawaoffer to go to space…
spotted
Courtesy of a tipster.
Marina Abramovic looked deep into Miles Greenbergthe performance of THE Embrace at the opening of New York *** Michael Govan, Gigi Hadid, Alex Israel, Jeff Koon, ZendayaAnd Penelope Cruz flew to celebrate the debut of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center in Mumbai, which opened last week with a group exhibition of Indian artists curated by jeffrey deich And Ranjit Hoskote *** THERE Van Dyke, Amanitathe new director of, reading the sellers lexicon How I rose from failure to success in sales in the subway *** Rapper Tierra Whack was the guest of Amy Sherald to this year Tribeca ballOr Naomi Watts, Michael Kagan, Wendy Olsoffand of course, Jonathan TravisTHE king of tribecaheld the court *** Scott Rothkopf, Amy Cappelazzo, Scott LorinskyAnd Lily Snyder To CSC Bardannual gala, where their president Leon Botstein gave what was, for the record, one of the most moving speeches at a gala ***
🎬 ⭐ CALL FOR CASTING! 🎞️ 🍿
Last week I called for actors to play Richard Prince And Marcel Duchampwho might also have the versatility to inhabit their respective alter-egos, John Dogg And Rrose Selavy. Among the many suggestions, I am sure that the Director Emeritus of Collections Adrian PobricThe choices seemed fair: Daniel Radcliffe like Duchamp by day and Sélavy by night, and William H. Macy like Dr. Prince and Mr. Dogg.
I’m putting the cast on ice for a week, but instead, I’m asking you to think: Who in the art world could best survive on a desert island?
Email your responses to [email protected].
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay one step ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news, revealing interviews and incisive reviews that move the conversation forward.
