It’s another fiery court battle for billionaire Ron Perelman.
This time the Revlon head is locking horns with his longtime art guru Larry Gagosian, head of the Gagosian Gallery. Perelman and Gagosian each filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday, alleging that the other cheated him.
Perelman’s suit calls Gagosian “the most powerful dealer in the contemporary art world,” representing artists such as Damien Hirs
t and the late Andy Warhol, and with clients who “include actors, entertainment executives, billionaire philanthropists and financiers,” reports The Post’s Dareh Gregorian.
“For over 20 years, Gagosian has been a constant and trusted art advisor and mentor to Mr. Perelman,” and he has “relied heavily on Gagosian’s advice and guidance regarding . . . artists, market demand, and the value of specific works of art,” the magnate’s suit says.
Perelman discovered that trust had been betrayed earlier this year, when he found out Gagosian had cheated him on a Jeff Koons “Popeye” sculpture that he’d fraudulently undervalued at $4 million. Perelman says the sculpture was worth millions more, but Gagosian refused to let him sell it for a higher value because of a secret deal he had struck with Koons, where he would have to pay the artist a higher commission if his work sold for a higher price.
Gagosian’s tit-for-tat suit claims Perelman agreed to buy a $12 million sculpture and a $10 million painting, and then refused to pay. And when the gallery asked for the works back, “Perelman refused, taunting the gallery to sue,” the suit says.
“The gallery prides itself on its relationships, and has never sued a client in its over 30 years of business,” Gagosian’s suit says, but Perelman “forced the gallery into court.”
Perelman spokeswoman Christine Taylor called Gagosian’s suit “frivolous,” and “a failed attempt to take the focus off the lawsuit we filed today, accusing him of fraud, breach of duty and breach of contract.” She added they can prove the works he identifies “were fully paid for.”