Finally, a Place to Buy a Condo and a Basquiat

By ROBIN POGREBIN

November 12, 2013 1:36 pmNovember 12, 2013 1:39 pm

Photo

Aby Rosen in front of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Hoax.”Credit Joshua Bright for The New York Times

Walk into Aby Rosen’s new gallery at 530 Park Avenue and you might think you’re in a real estate sales office.

That’s because it is one.

Mr. Rosen, the developer and collector, has added art to the sales office in the base of his renovated building on Park Avenue at 61st Street. It’s a new approach to luxury real estate sales: Buy an apartment for $2.3 million to $10 million and take home a major piece of art while you’re at it – say, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s collage “Hoax” (1983) or George Condo’s “Girl With Night Gown” (2007) – prices upon request.

“Having this gallery is a different way to approach the buyer – it’s a softer approach, it’s almost disarming,” said Mr. Rosen, the principal of RFR Holding, which operates Lever House. “It is an extension of our aesthetic approach towards real estate.”

The gallery space isn’t exactly ideal for art – two Warhol silkscreens are partly obscured by the reception desk. Takashi Murakami’s fiberglass “Jikkokun” is jammed in the corner, near the couches and the coffee table holding complimentary mints. But that’s the way Mr. Rosen said he likes it. “It’s by-the-way art,” he said. “It’s O.K. to put a plant in front of a piece of art.”

What happens to the “gallery” when all the apartments get sold and the sales office is no longer needed? “We might just keep it,” Mr. Rosen said.

In the meantime, Mr. Rosen said he was perfectly comfortable selling art in a cramped commercial space, even though it all comes from his personal collection. “I have zero issue with parting with something,” he said. “Everything that I own is for sale – other than my wife and kids.”

Basquiat update

Hamptonite Arrested for Peddling Fake Jackson Pollocks on eBay

The FBI has taken into custody an East Hampton man for an eBay-based art forgery scheme that netted nearly $1.9 million for over 60 fake Jackson Pollock paintings, reports East Hampton Star.

Allegedly, 54-year-old John D. Re began his eBay racket in 2005, telling private collectors who responded to his listings that he had come into a cache of Pollock paintings in 1999 while clearing out the basement of Barbara Schulte, an East Hampton woman whose husband George, a woodworker and antique restorer, had died three years prior. Schulte later moved to Marblehead, Mass., and died in 2013.

Re was arrested Friday June 27 by East Hampton Village police for driving with a suspended license, and was turned over to the FBI. He has since been released on $150,000 bond. His previous brushes with the law include a 1995 conviction as part of a counterfeit money ring, probation violations, leaving the scene of an accident, and weapons-related charges.

While it is unclear who created the forged works, the complaint notes that Re is also a painter and his work is “Abstract Expressionist in style.” Re used shill bidders to drive up the price on his auctions.

Of more than 60 faux-Pollocks sold, 58 went to Re’s first buyer, identified as “Collector 2,” for a total of $519,890, while an additional 12 works went to “Collector 1” for $894,500, and “Collector 3″ bought three for $475,000. Two other collectors were also involved.

The FBI describes the individual prices paid for each piece by Collector 2 as so far below market (ranging from about $1,000 up to $60,000) that it should have been obvious they were not real. Unsurprisingly, the forgery scheme began to crumble when the collectors showed their finds to outsiders.

In 2007, when an expert examined one of the pieces, Collector 1 discovered that the “materials in the painting were not available during Pollock’s lifetime.” Likewise, Collector 2 turned to the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) for authentication help in 2011, despite Re’s efforts to dissuade him with “horror stories” about the organization and “the expert bullshit.”

Eventually, IFAR examined 45 paintings and found them all to be fake, noting that as a group, the paintings were “remarkably, and disturbingly, analogous to each other in palette, composition, and overall execution, much more similar, in fact, than any of Pollock’s authentic works are to each other.” The organization also found that “several members of Mr. Schulte’s immediate family, as well as his close friends, informed IFAR that Mr. Schulte never claimed to own artworks by Pollock.”

Collector 3 also uncovered the paintings’ shady provenance when a Manhattan art dealer attempted to wipe away a smudge of dirt after licking his finger, and some paint came off.

As part of the FBI investigation against Re, the scammer’s email correspondence was monitored. “I BELIEVE I HAVE FOUND WHAT WOULD BE CONCIDERED THE GREATEST CONTEMPORARY ART FIND IN HISTORY,” Re wrote to Collector 2 in 2011.

Re’s phone line was also tapped during a call with Collector 3 back in November 2013, in which Re threatened the collector for not returning two of the paintings, saying “I grew up in Brooklyn, okay? My mother’s from the Bonanno family, which means Gambino. If you got to call me back one more time, your mother’s going to start wondering why you stopped visiting her.”

Meredith Savona , an FBI agent in the art theft and art fraud division, interviewed Re last month, ahead of the arrest. He denied claiming the paintings were authentic during the course of the sale, but email records included in the complaint find statements to the contrary: “This is a very strong Pollock. Slight crackling throughout, and a very little browning on the front. More on the rear. Not bad for a 62 to 64-year-old painting that has been in a basement for maybe 55 of those years.”

“Re said he would take the weight for anything he did that was wrong, but that he did not think he had done anything wrong,” Savona wrote in her report.

News of a similar scheme in the UK run by a vicar’s son also broke this weekend (see Telegraph report).

How To Tell the Three Hamptons Art Fairs Apart

The Hamptons have long been a land of plenty—a place for New York’s elite to relax, socialize, and eat lobster away from the pressures of city life. And as with most other affluent cities, a crop of art fairs have recently sprung up. While a far cry from Frieze or Basel,ArtHamptons, Art Market Hamptons, and Art Southampton garner attention and attendance largely due to the fact that not much else is happening in the art world in the middle of July.
Of course, in the midst of all the sun, sand, champagne-soaked celebrations, and often decidedly mediocre art, it can be tricky to differentiate between the three fairs. Also, they all have some combination of the words “Art” and “Hamptons” in their names, which is extremely confusing. So, here’s your handy guide to figuring out which art fair you’ve stumbled into, based on factors like quality of liquor sponsorship, the presence of food trucks, and whether or not there are famous people around. Oh, and art, too.

Edgy Art: If you see art that could be classified as “edgy”, insomuch as that’s a thing in the Hamptons, you may be at ArtHamptons. Last year’s edition featured an exhibition by SPRING/BREAK directors Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly entitled “quote Bushwick Bohemia unquote,” which poked fun at the fair’s ongoing theme of “Hamptons Bohemia” and at the idea of “Bohemia” in general as a fleeting state that’s typically over before it’s begun. Despite this stab at subversiveness, it seems safe to say that 90 percent of the fair’s attendees have never been to Bushwick, never plan to go there, and just stopped by the fair to maybe find a nice piece for the dining room. Art Market, known for its army of Brooklyn-based food trucks, also maintains a slight edge, although we’re not sure how much of that has actually to do with the art.
Lower-Mid Market Works: If the prices of the works don’t make your jaw drop to the floor, you may be at ArtHamptons. Touting pieces largely in the $2,000–30,000 range, the fair is known for secondary market works that don’t require a lot of thinking—in subject matter or price. Despite the occasional aforementioned gesture toward coolness, the bread and butter of this fair is accessible, uncomplicated artwork. If this sounds like a bad thing, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. After all, it’s the beach, do you really need to be intellectually challenged, or can you just sip some chardonnay and enjoy your canapes?

Big Name Artists: At the other end of the price spectrum lies Art Southampton. Though only in its third year, the fair has established itself as the largest and most high-end of the Hamptons fairs. With pieces regularly climbing into the six-figure range, last year’s sale of a Botero sculpture for $400,000 proved that despite the laid back location and the perceived lack of “serious” collectors, there are still plenty of visitors with money to burn.
Celebrity Sightings: This isn’t to say you’re guaranteed to see celebrities at any of the fairs (we hear they all hang out in Montauk now, anyway). But where the expensive art goes, the celebrity clientele tend to follow, so if you find yourself standing next to Leonardo DiCaprio (or more likely, a Real Housewife), you’re probably at Art Southampton, and you’ve likely wormed your way into the VIP Preview somehow. Add to the mix the fact that the Watermill Benefit, one of the most buzzed-about social events of the season, falls on the same weekend and you may want to keep your iPhone camera at hand. It’s also possible you’re at ArtHamptons, where Cheech Marin (of Cheech and Chong fame) participated in a talk last year. Art Market, for its part, was visited by Jon Bon Jovi.
Liquor Sponsorship: While Art Southampton boasts sponsorship from Prohibition Distillery, Art Market appears only to have Perrier, purveyor of carbonated water for very fancy people, listed as a beverage sponsor. The most hilarious beverage sponsorship clearly goes to ArtHamptons, which lists Balls Vodka as a participating sponsor. We look forward to requesting a “Balls on the rocks, please” while attempting to maintain a straight face—and, a few hours into the VIP preview, calling out for “A shot of Balls!”

A Random Political Endorsement: Art Southampton has been lucky enough to somehow acquire the dogged support of Congressman Tim Bishop, who penned this letter, in which he expressed his gratitude for the fair’s addition of  “a new chapter to the rich cultural heritage of Eastern Long Island by showcasing the finest international contemporary and modern art.” It remains unknown whether or not the other two fairs have garnered any type of political support, but we would suggest they work on it.
“Hamptons Chic” Attire: While the other two fairs have left guests to flounder through the guessing game of what to wear, ArtHamptons has shouldered some of the burden. They request that VIP Preview attendees don attire that is “Hamptons Chic,” which they kindly define for us as “optional seasonal sport coat or blazer & slacks / dress shirt, casual button-down shirt / optional tie / open-collar or polo shirt.” No word on what to wear if you happen to be a woman, but for the normal folk planning to attend the regular fair days, “smart casual” should cut it.

BASQUIAT THE "oRIGINAL ArTIsT"

 

"HE NEVER CHANGED UP HIS STYLE, STUCK TO WHO HE WAS UNTIL THEY ACCEPTED WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO EXPRESS"

 

 

Basquiat The beast from Brooklyn