A Brancusi Sculpture Fell Off a Pedestal in the Office of an Art-Financing Company. Now Its Owner Is Suing for $22.5 Million

A French collector is suing
Asher Edelman, who runs the art-financing company Artemus, and two
insurances companies for allegedly damaging a prized Constantin
Brancusi sculpture. 

In a complaint filed earlier
this week in New York State Supreme Court, Marc Baradel alleged
that after he consigned the sculpture, Brancusi’s
Le Poisson
(ca. 1920–22), to Artemus it fell
from a pedestal and broke in half. According to an appraisal report
filed in court, the work
was valued at $22.5 million prior to the accident; after the fall
and repair it was reappraised at $16.9 million.

Edelman, has denied the
accusations, claiming that Baradel himself set the sculpture on a
pedestal in the Artemus office before it fell off minutes later.
“It’s preposterous,” Edelman
told artnet News. “Marc Baradel mounted the Brancusi on a pedestal
in my office. He went and sat down on the couch and it immediately
fell. By then he had had a certificate of insurance in
hand.” 

A consignment agreement attached
to the complaint shows that Baradel insured the work for up to $5
million through two insurance companies, the Chicago-based HUB
International and Lloyd’s of London, but says that neither honored
the agreement after the work was damaged. 

According to the complaint,
Artemus “breached the consignment agreement by not protecting the
Art from damage during their stewardship.” It goes on to say that
“HUB and Lloyd’s have withheld payment by engaging in conduct that
may be characterized as ‘gross’ and ‘morally reprehensible,’ and of
such wanton dishonesty as to imply a criminal indifference to civil
obligations by not payment the claim.” 

Baradel is seeking $22.5 million
from Edelman and Artemus and an additional $5 million in damages
from HUB and Lloyd’s.

Baradel’s attorney did not
immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did
representatives from Lloyd’s of London. HUB International
declined to comment.

The post A Brancusi Sculpture Fell Off a Pedestal in the
Office of an Art-Financing Company. Now Its Owner Is Suing for
$22.5 Million appeared first on artnet News.