David Geffen—the American document govt, billionaire and main artwork collector—is being sued over the rightful possession of a $78.4m sculpture by Alberto Giacometti. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday (4 February), and the plaintiff behind it’s none aside from the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency founder Justin Solar—finest recognized within the artwork world because the successful bidder of “the world’s costliest banana” (Maurizio Cattelan’s 2019 conceptual work Comic) at a Sotheby’s public sale final yr.
The Giacometti work on the centre of the go well with is the bronze Le Nez (1947), one of many star heaps from one other Sotheby’s public sale in 2021—the primary of two gross sales devoted to Linda and Harry Macklowe’s artwork assortment. The suspended determine with an elongated nostril and a form harking back to a gun offered for a hammer worth of $60m, barely beneath the lot’s $70m-$90m estimate. (The Macklowe assortment was briefly essentially the most priceless single-owner artwork assortment to ever promote at public sale, till Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen’s assortment offered for $1.5bn in a single night time at Christie’s months later).
Solar revealed himself as the customer of the sculpture after the sale and stated he would donate the work to ApeNFT, a blockchain-based fractional-ownership fund reportedly based by Solar and Xiong however owned by a relative of Solar’s, in keeping with the lawsuit. Nevertheless, Solar claims he by no means donated or transferred the possession of the work, as an alternative permitting the bronze to be nearly exhibited on-line.
Solar alleges that the Giacometti sculpture was stolen from him by Xiong Zihan Sydney, an artwork adviser who aided him within the Sotheby’s sale. Xiong allegedly misrepresented herself as part of the ApeNFT organisation, which she falsely claimed was the proprietor of Le Nez, and offered the sculpture to Geffen in January 2024. The cryptocurrency founder claims that Xiong went so far as to forge his signature on paperwork and prepare for the sculpture to be taken to New York. Xiong allegedly traded Le Nez for 2 artistic endeavors owned by Geffen valued at $55m, plus $10.5m in money for a complete of $65.5m. Solar’s attorneys declare that the worth of the work has solely “risen, considerably so” since Sotheby’s sale in 2021. (Between 2021 and 2023, the artwork market contracted considerably, notably for work priced larger than $10m, in keeping with the International Artwork Market Report revealed by UBS and Artwork Basel.)
Whereas Solar says he expressed curiosity in promoting Le Nez round 2023, he wished to take action for greater than the $78.4m (with charges) he had paid for it and was not prepared to promote for much less. The lawsuit portrays Solar as a considerably inexperienced determine within the artwork world, claiming that he, not like Geffen, “is a comparatively new collector of main artwork and isn’t as conversant in the trendy and modern artwork market”. Due to this alleged unfamiliarity with these segments of the market, Solar relied on Xiong’s experience, his attorneys declare, however didn’t give her authority to barter the promoting of Le Nez. Solar claims he requested her to alert him if she knew of anybody curious about paying greater than $80m for Le Nez.
In November, Solar advised The Artwork Newspaper that he had bought Le Nez on the advice of an artwork adviser as a strategic transfer. The yr 2021 was time to spend money on artwork, Solar stated, including that he was at the moment “extra into conceptual and digital artwork fairly than conventional artwork”.
In line with Solar’s lawsuit, Geffen continues to be in possession of Le Nez and refuses to return the sculpture. Solar’s attorneys demand that Geffen “both should restitute it or pay very substantial damages” to Solar.
Geffen’s lawyer, Tibor Nagy, advised The Artwork Newspaper in a press release that the lawsuit is “a determined and weird try to cover actuality. Mr. Solar obtained two work and $10.5m for the sculpture he knowingly offered. After attempting and failing to promote the work, he now desires to retrade the deal primarily based on the implausible declare that his personal artwork advisor and liaison to the artwork world duped him.”
Solar has made headlines for splashy public sale purchases earlier than, however he was thrust into the highlight final yr after spending $6.2m on Cattelan’s banana in November throughout one other Sotheby’s sale. He ate the banana throughout a press convention lower than per week later. Solar can also be a significant investor within the World Liberty Monetary crypto undertaking, backed by US President Donald Trump.
