Wet Paint: Billionaire Divorcées Leave Gagosian in the Lurch, Frieze Goes on the Attack, & More Juicy Art-World Gossip

Every Thursday afternoon, Artnet News brings
you Wet Paint, a gossip column of original scoops reported and
written by Nate Freeman. If you have a tip, email Nate
at nfreeman@artnet.com.

ADVISOR IN A VISE

Lawyers for billionaires-gone-splitsville Harry
and Linda Macklowe have been tasked with
liquidating their massive, legendary
art collection—valued at $700 million—and in February, a judge
asked that the counsel for both parties to agree on a “receiver”
who could secure a deal with an auction house to offload the
estate. This week, Artnet was able to
reveal that the dealer who nabbed the prize is Michael
Findlay, a partner at Acquavella
Galleries and author of The Value of Art: Money,
Power, Beauty.

This, of course, is great news for Findlay, who will likely pick
up a fee in the many millions of dollars. But it’s terrible news
for the other player jostling for the golden
goose—namely, the new Gagosian
Art Advisory LLC, which was formed this April. Many
wondered what exactly Larry Gagosian had in mind
when he hired Laura Paulson, formerly a rainmaker
at Christie’s, to run this totally separate part of his blue-chip
art empire—and sources say a big reason for creating this advisory
arm was precisely to nail down the Macklowe account and arrange for
its auctioning off.

The snub is made worse by the fact that Paulson is friendly with
Linda Macklowe—both serve on the board of Hunter
College and have been seen at events together often. As
for Harry Macklowe, a source spotted him a week ago driving his
Mercedes down 9th Avenue, letting Chelsea’s mega-galleries eat his
dust.

FAIRS TANGLE IN TINSELTOWN

Last February, both Frieze and
Felix held their first editions in Los
Angeles, the former at
Paramount Studios and the latter at the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. It seemed like the
two fairs played nice with each other. They opened on the same day,
allowing collectors such as Michael Ovitz, the
Rubells, and, um, Brad
Pitt to swing through Frieze’s big white tent and
then immediately make a quick drive up across Santa Monica
Boulevard to check out the slightly smaller Felix, which had its
galleries situated in hotel suites or bungalows by the pool.

Well, the era of good feelings is over. Frieze, perhaps
threatened by the rave reviews of Felix’s
reboot of the hotel-fair model, has gone on the offensive.
Sources say that a newly added provision in the Frieze LA exhibitor
contract states—explicitly—that participating galleries are
forbidden to also appear in Felix. Not only are they barred from
having a booth at Felix, no Frieze gallery can allow one of their
artists to participate in the smaller fair’s “Special Projects”
sector, which highlights individual artworks by installing them
throughout the hotel. (Frieze did not return a request for comment
on the arrangement by press time.)

Last year, both Chateau Shatto and
Susanne Vielmetter had booths at Frieze and an
artist in the special projects sector at Felix, but, according to
an email shown to Wet Paint, Frieze is now contacting galleries
with a clear ultimatum: us or them.

DROPPED BY TWEET

Things are not looking up for Blain Southern,
the gallery founded in London by Harry Blain and
Graham Southern in 2010. On Wednesday, one of the
highest-profile members of their roster, the onetime Turner Prize
nominees Jake and Dinos Chapman, announced that
they were jumping ship—in a tweet, no less (cold!)—and left an
email address in case anyone wanted to get in touch (thirsty!). As
of Thursday evening, the gallery’s website seemed to be in denial,
keeping them listed as represented artists. Another bad sign for
Blain Southern? Sources say the will be vacating its current New
York space by June 2020 after just one year of operation—perhaps a
Chelsea record for going from a grand opening to a grand closing.
No word yet on whether they plan to relocate elsewhere in the
city.

Jake and Dinos Chapman have departed company
with Blain|Southern Gallery, and will cease to be represented by
them with immediate effect.
We wish Blain|Southern every success.

All enquiries:
studio@jakeanddinoschapman.com pic.twitter.com/tOqeoGe7pB

— Jake and Dinos (@JakeandDinos) October 30, 2019

KATZ DOES DALLAS

The Two x Two for AIDS and Art benefit went
down last weekend deep in the heart of Texas, and Dallas society
came out in full force—even if, as some attendees said, the bash
was slightly less splashy than in past years. In fairness, it’s
hard to compete with the 2018 edition, when the
Rachofskys invited a crowd to their modernist home
that included the actor Armie
Hammer—great-grandson of the storied art collector and
museum founder Armand Hammer—together with his
costar from Call Me by Your Name, heartthrob
sensation Timothée Chalamet. After last
year’s festivities, the two celebs led a slew of dealers and
artists to Dallas’s In-n-Out Burger and racked up a tab that
approached the five figures… which is a lotta double doubles,
animal style. But while this year’s attendees missed out on the
burgers, they did throw down some serious cash for art. During the
live benefit auction, art advisor Adam Green
bought a Derek Fordjour painting for $220,000—well
over the artist’s auction record. And Marguerite
Hoffman, one of the grand dames of Dallas art collecting,
bought an Alex Katz—this year’s artist honoree—for
a cool $1 million.

MNUCHIN TO MNUCHIN: IMPEACH!

Just last May, gallery owner Robert Mnuchin
was on the verge of
tears when a New York Times reporter asked him
to speak about his son, Steven Mnuchin, who as US
Treasury Secretary is best known for taking Bond villain-esque
pictures with lots of
money, shielding Trump amid calls for his tax returns, and
putting the country on the precipice of recession over a trade war
with China. But now, it may be the son’s turn to shed some tears,
because papa Mnuchin has come out in full-throated support of
Trump’s impeachment, recently posting a shot on Instagram of him
wearing a hat that says “Keep Calm and Trust Pelosi.” Robert
Mnuchin: former master of the universe banker, current
David Hammons champion, and newly crowned shade
king. That’s going to be a fun Thanksgiving!

WE HEAR…

… that Glenstone, the DC-area art sanctuary
presided over by billionaire Mitchell Rales and
his wife, Emily Wei Rales, acquired Kerry
James Marshall’s stunning Untitled
(Underpainting) from his October 2018 show at
David Zwirner’s space in London and have now put
it on view … that the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden has installed new acquisitions of works by the
artists (and market darlings) Harold
Ancart and Avery Singer side-by-side on
the same wall, which is an interesting curatorial choice given that
the two used to date… and that Kimberly Drew, the
writer, curator, and former Met Museum staffer, has been signed by
Hollywood agency WME.

SIGHTINGS

*** Anish Kapoor arriving with his father-son
art dealers Nicholas Logsdail and Alex
Logsdail to Artnet’s 30th anniversary party at the
Top of the Standard, fondly known as the Boom Boom
Room. *** Nicholas Braun, who plays the hapless
Cousin Greg on HBO’s “Succession,” drawing adoring fans at
Creative Time Gala—although he refused to be
photographed in front of the the nonprofit’s banner, asking the
assembled photogs to snap him elsewhere. *** Warren
Kanders cheating on the Madison Avenue Sant
Ambroeus by going to the West Village Sant Ambroeus. ***
Producer Mark Ronson, fellow “Succession” actress
Annabelle Dexter-Jones, and dealer Lucas
Zwirner with girlfriend Sienna Miller all
dressed in throwback ‘80s garb at artist Oliver
Clegg’s annual Halloween party at Acme. *** US
Commerce Secretary and dedicated Magritte
collector Wilbur Ross browsing
TEFAF New York Spring on opening night.

PARTING SHOT

If your gallery dinner is at Bottino your
dealer secretly hates you and is trying to figure out how to drop
you from the program.

— Benjamin Godsill (@mrgodsill) October 25, 2019

The post Wet Paint: Billionaire Divorcées Leave Gagosian in
the Lurch, Frieze Goes on the Attack, & More Juicy Art-World
Gossip appeared first on artnet News.