Collector Sues Gallery for Misrepresenting Value of Painting
November 25 2020
Picture: Artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnet.com have published a curious story relating to an upcoming lawsuit surrounding the sale of a full-length portrait of George Washington.
Collector and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt is taking Hirschl & Adler Galleries to court over a contract signed with the dealers. In 2017 Steinhardt had commissioned the art dealers to help sell the portrait in his collection, on which a $10m 'net to you' contract was settled upon. The painting was eventually sold to another private collector for $12m, and the terms of the gallery's contract meant that the gallery could claim any profits over the $10m. Steinhardt claims that the gallery purposefully mislead him into earning what turned out to be a 17% commission.
This sort of arrangement is rather common in the art market, so we'll wait and see how this legal case ends.
