This is an auction that no one wants.
The personal collection of an alleged art world fraud. She has long boasted of her connections to the art world. leonardo dicapriois scheduled to go up for sale in New York next month to pay off some of its hefty debts.
Lisa Schiff, 54, has been a darling of the city's art scene for more than a decade. She, along with Manhattan society figures such as real estate heiress Candice Barash, private equity executive Thomas Hagerty and art world executive Adam Schaeffer, has created multi-million dollar paintings for bold figures such as Oscar-winning actors. Got it — “Lisa's best friend,” a wealthy source told the Post. — and his spouse Richard Grossman
Now, after being declared bankrupt, Schiff's collection has been liquidated and he is expected to repay former clients who have become close friends.
The nearly 200 works in Schiff's collection, including works by such luminaries as Damien Hirst, Dennis Hopper, David Israel, Judy Chicago and Richard Prince, will be sold at the Phillips Auction House on Park Avenue in November. It is scheduled to be exhibited at. Total revenue is expected to be $2 million.
Art world insiders expressed concern that the circumstances behind the sale would drive down prices.
“People don't get excited about buying art that's been embroiled in scandal unless it's a good opportunity,” a source told the Post. “Whether that opportunity is a discreet private sale rather than a Phillips auction is another matter.”
But the sale could attract bargain hunters and long-term investors, people familiar with the matter said.
“If something is good, it will sell. I don't think we will get any higher numbers. In fact, the numbers will be lower because there is a cloud hanging over everything,” the source said.
A Phillips spokesperson said: “The company sets estimates that reflect the quality and rarity of the artwork, taking into account recent comparable prices.”
According to a civil complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court in May, Schiff's former friends accused him of “effectively running…a Ponzi scheme and depriving him of entrusted funds, accounts, and artwork.” He blames it. [her] by customers…and used it to fund Schiff's own lavish lifestyle. ”
Additionally, Schiff owes dozens of collectors millions of dollars in excess of the amounts in the civil suit, according to an affidavit filed in New York State Supreme Court in August. The affidavit also shows she paid $524,000 to American Express.
The newspaper reached out to Schiff through his attorney for comment.
High-end collectors collaborated with Schiff because it gave him access to the pieces he coveted and the organizations that sold them.
“She ran in the right circles, had access to the right people, provided the right artwork. She knew how to use a room,” the source said.
The situation allegedly worsened because Schiff was not prepared to sell Adrian Genie's $2.5 million painting called “Uncle 3” for a profit. It was sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, and she stalled Grossman and Barash, who participated in this work.
Things quickly unraveled.
Grossman's spouse, Schaeffer, met with Schiff to follow up on the payment. According to the complaint, Schiff, who was not identified by name but is said to be Grossman's spouse, told him he didn't have the money and that he should call a lawyer. Then she walked away.
A follow-up text from Schiff did little to reassure the client. “I'm sorry and I'm going to make things right…it's just complicated…I know you'll never talk to me again, but I'm going to try to make it right regardless,” the complaint says. Ta.
The breakdown in their business relationship is even more serious given the fact that not all dealings in the art business are business. Officials say the most rewarding arrangement, both financially and aesthetically, feels like a friendship, even if it's built on a multimillion-dollar foundation.
“you go to an art fair togetherThey drink champagne together and go out to dinner together,” a source said. “You're not sitting in a boardroom. For fraud to thrive, there has to be a trusting relationship.”
Mr. Schaefer met Mr. Schiff around 2004 and formed a business relationship that developed into a “deep personal friendship,” according to the complaint.
Ms. Grossman and Ms. Schaeffer cared for Mr. Schiff's son, acting as his “co-parents” and traveling with the mother and son.
Barash was brought in by Schaefer. She also quickly became close with Sif. The suit says the two traveled to art fairs together and Schiff enjoyed a high-end lifestyle.
According to the complaint, Ms. Barash witnessed Ms. Schiff “spending tens of thousands of dollars at a time on haute couture and accessories, and purchasing $20,000 in jewelry at a time,” and paid 20,000 yen a month for the rent on her Manhattan apartment. The suit alleges that he admitted to paying $5,000, plus an additional $60,000 a year in rent for the apartment. My son's tuition at Grace Church School, an elite school in downtown Manhattan.
Although Schiff did not come from the art world, he managed to break into the notoriously confrontational scene.
Raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in art history and moved to Manhattan.
She built her bones working at Phillips and at Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, the very places where the collection was to be liquidated.
According to Town and Country magazine, after she turned 30 in 1999, her parents cut her off financially and she struck out on her own as an art advisor.
“It was a little bit of a whim,” she once told Artsy. “I had no idea what I was doing. I just couldn't function within the system. I was energetic and irritable all the time.”
Nevertheless, something about her engendered trust from the people she represented.
According to the complaint, “all funds for the purchase and sale of Barash’s art were [Schiff’s] To accomplish that, the complaint continues, Schiff “requested and received from Barash permission and access to certain of Barash's credit cards.”
As for why she was able to command such trust from the rich and wonderful, a fellow art advisor told the Post: She had an attractive painting, she found something that a collector wanted, and she was doing the right thing. ”
The adviser acknowledged that he once snubbed Mr. Schiff when he took him to his $25,000-a-month apartment, saying the artwork there was “so-so.”
“I didn't think anything was great,” the advisor continued. “[Big] The name and, you guessed it, the unassuming painting. ”
he questioned her beliefs.
“We have some great dealers who are really talented,” the advisor said. “[Others] Spin their web. I think she was more of a web spinner. ”
This apparently worked for former clients who claim Schiff stiffed them.
“She's a very smart and fun person,” Collector said. “She seemed real. I think she got into it head-on. I don't think she was a bad person or a criminal or scheming or anything like that.”
Such sympathetic words suggest that there is a good chance that Schiff will return.
“You would be surprised to see people walking around despite being involved in something like this,” the source said. “I’ve seen people get fooled and then leave. [return] I go to the same dealer again because I have the opportunity to make more money. I can only imagine that they will make a comeback somewhere. ”
