Lisa Schiff, a prominent New York art adviser, is facing a lawsuit over how she handled the recent sale of a $2.5 million Adrian Ghenie painting at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
The lawsuit, which was filed by Richard Grossman and collector Candace Carmel Barasch in New York’s Supreme Court on Thursday, alleges that Schiff and her advisory firm sought to defraud them by refusing to pay fees owed as a result of the sale.
Doing so, the lawsuit claims, was “part of a much larger Ponzi scheme that Defendants were running, taking money from one client to pay another, and to fund Schiff’s lavish lifestyle.”
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The work at the center of the suit is Ghenie’s The Uncle 3 (2019), which featured in a State Hermitage Museum show in St. Petersburg, Russia the year it was produced. According to the suit, Barasch had learned of the work through Schiff that same year. Barasch bought a 50 percent stake in the work, the suit says, and Grossman and his spouse, who was not named, each acquired 25 percent stakes.
Barasch and Grossman claim that the work was sold at Sotheby’s in either December or January, and that Schiff wired them each $225,000, with Grossman distributing half of his share to his spouse. Things allegedly shifted in the months afterward, however.
The suit claims that Barasch and Grossman continued to be owed $1.8 million, and that when they followed up with Schiff, there continued to be delays. Matters may have come to a head earlier this week, when Schiff allegedly told Grossman “she did not have the money owed to Plaintiffs, and to call her attorney—and then walked away from him,” per the suit.
“Know that I love you,” Schiff told Barasch in a text message reprinted in the suit. “Not able to talk but later today.”
Schiff is well-known, both within the market and to some degree even outside it. “These days, top collectors tend to rely on art advisers for guidance as to what they should or shouldn’t buy—and one of the better-known names is the New York–based consultant Lisa Schiff,” wrote the New York Times last year, reporting that the actor Leonardo DiCaprio was one of her clients.
She runs SFA Advisory, a New York–based firm that, on its website, says it “prides itself on making the art world transparent for its clients, helping them navigate the complex web of relationships and platforms.” But the suit accuses Schiff of “abject hypocrisy” in that regard.
By way of example, the suit cites Schiff’s lifestyle, which includes “a New York apartment rented at $25,000 per month, international first class travel with concierge services and limousine services, including vacations at five-star hotels, shopping sprees in New York and Europe for designer clothes and jewelry, private school tuition for her child, among other things, and to make payments owed to other clients of Schiff and her businesses.”
Lawsuits such as this one are rare, as collectors such as Barasch, who appeared on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list each year between 2014 and 2018, do not often seek to publicly air the details of private transactions.
Barasch appears to have at one point been close to Schiff. In a 2019 New York Timesprofile of Barasch, she called Schiff her “partner in crime,” saying that Schiff had helped her navigate how to buy art when she was starting out as a collector.
“It’s a sad day in the art world when a trusted advisor who professed transparency and integrity is discovered to have been stealing from her longstanding friends and clients,” said Wendy Lindstrom, a lawyer for Barasch and Grossman, in a statement to ARTnews.
Seeking a jury trial, Barasch and Grossman are now asking for more than $2 million in damages and for Schiff to forfeit her $250,000 commission on the Ghenie sale.
Schiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
