Investor: Art dealer Larry Gagosian and sculptor Jeff Koons running Ponzi scheme

The duo bleed “collectors of deposits and payments [by] drawing on their funding without supplying a product in exchange,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

It’s a “fraudulent financial routine that harkens the name Ponzi,” the suit says.

While collectors wait “interminably for delivery, Larry Gagosian and Jeff Koons live extravagant lifestyles financed in part by inappropriate and highly questionable practices,” the suit says.

Koons and Gagosian both own sprawling town homes on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The pair’s clients range from billionaire Steve Cohen to late publishing magnate S.I. Newhouse. The artist’s “Balloon Dog” sold for a record $58 million at Christie’s in 2013. Gagosian’s 16 galleries bring in a reported $1 billion in yearly sales.

Tananbaum first signed a purchase agreement for an 8.5-foot-by-5.4-foot magenta, polished steel sculpture called “Balloon Venus” in September 2013.

The hedge funder was told the $8 million work would be completed in December 2015.

He’s paid a $6.4 million deposit and is still waiting for delivery, the suit says.

Tananbaum’s also been waiting since 2016 for two other pieces — titled “Eros” and “Diana”– worth a combined $14.5 million. He’s put down $6.65 million toward the total price, according to court papers.

Koons claims the delays are due to “complex technological issues” but he’s also refused to provide photos, videos or other evidence that the artwork is in progress, the suit stays.

Reps for Koons and Gagosian did not immediately return requests for comment.

Somebody call La Cicciolina quick!

Koons entire oeuvre is a con game. The future is shaking its head.

but Larry Gagosian is hot

I can’t stand Koons’ “art”

Koons has been running a scam since day one. Only Hirst is a bigger thief than Coons is. The art collectors(of which Gagosians) are insane collectors whose knowledge of art is very limited. Especially when what Koons does is called art. Kitsch yes, art no!

Larry Gagodjeshean

LOL

[QUOTE}whose knowledge of art is very limited

It's not even that, it's just a front for money laundering and tax dodging.

Have you ever talked to these people? They actually can't tell the difference between Brillo and Warhol's Brillo! I wish I was joking.....

Jeff Koons: dong, not dog

Re: LOL It is so bad that Marvel/Disney wouldn't publish that. I'm not talking about a cover, I'm talking about anywhere inside a comic to boot!

So why doesn't Koons just slap some art together? Make another balloon animal and ship it off to the buyer. Done.

R10 That was my point. Their knowledge isn't limited, it's non-existent. They only see the art as an easy way to move money around, so they don't care what they're buying.

I don't think he even makes his own art anymore. Likely it is made by unpaid interns.

Who buys this shit?

Reminds me of Edina shopping for art. They deserve to be swindled for outrageous money for junk.

R15 art is one of the biggest tools for money laundering

I can see how an artist could come to this, in today's world. As he gets more successful and the prices for original works rise, he realizes that none of the people who can afford his work know dick about art! He despises them and their pretensions and money laundering, and gradually he decides that there's nothing wrong with mocking, scamming, and bilking them.

And he never realizes that he's become just as bad as they are...

R15–I know one of his former interns. It’s a factory. He doesn’t touch anything.

Hilarious..the swindlers get swindled.

ALL modern art is a racket, and it always has been. The Usual Suspects found an "in" and have expertly exploited it for a hundred years. I could enjoy the table-turning antics of these two if they weren't part of the movement that has all but replaced representational (i.e., requires actual talent to produce) art.

Fuck the entire NY art "scene". It's the spawn of mental defectives. Produces nothing but mind-numbing, soul-crushing ugliness.

I hate representational art.

But why can't he just make the art? Am I missing something from the "scam" here? He can just make a design and have his interns/employees pump out the art to meet the order.

And using money you've been paid for an order is not a Ponzi scheme, is it? This sounds more like a case of an artist/dealer overselling and not having the capacity to deliver the product in a timely manner. But even then, he can't have that many $10 million orders that he backed up for years, can he? Unless he and the dealer are just trying to manage the number of his pieces being delivered to control the supply (so there isn't a huge amount of his work being churned out constantly).

How much would you pay to suck his cock?

How much would you pay to suck his cock on camera?

How much would you pay to suck his cock on camera at the Museum of Modern Art?

[quote]The hedge funder was told the $8 million work would be completed in December 2015.

[quote]Tananbaum’s also been waiting since 2016 for two other pieces

So once the first piece was not delivered on time, he ordered another two.

Rich people love to get ripped off. I just wish I knew some. I'd be an artist too!!

Even if you don't admire Warhol's art, he was a hard worker. Yes, he had helpers- but was working in his studio on Sundays. No delays from Andy.

Remember when Sam Fowler was going through this? Not the Ponzi/Madoff part. The art factory part.

"And using money you've been paid for an order is not a Ponzi scheme, is it?"

No, if Koons took the money and never delivered anything it's just fraud.

Perhaps the dealer has some financial jiggery-pokery going on that might be called "Ponzi", but it sounds like the plaintiff is using the word to get press, not to describe what's actually going on. Being conned by their money managers has got to be one of the greatest fears of the idle art-buying rich, so comparing Koons and Gagosian to Madoff has got to be calculated to hurt them financially before the lawsuit goes anywhere.

R26 Silk screening Monroe was such an arduous task...please. Warhol made art literally into a factory process. His films were far more edgier than his art was. Remember Blowjob?

The Danish TV series "The Legacy" (first 10 episodes are on Amazon) nicely captures how corrupt the contemporary art world is.

Koons has a GREAT dick and really nice body.

And he got it all out and had hardcore sex in the early '90s, before everyone started sharing their junk with the world.

I forgive him everything.

I'd suck it.

Anybody who would voluntarily pay money to that huckster Jeff Koons deserves exactly what they get.

Jeff Koons is a hack. Anyone who likes his art is an idiot

R31, who is that disgusting woman with all those pimples on her ass?

true R20!

We don't care, we love sunbathing atop our flower puppy!

R29, I've forgotten more about art than you'll ever know.

The New York art scene is a joke. The people are worse than the fashion crowd.

Koons' "art" is huge in Miami. That should tell you all you need to know about how talented he is.

[quote] I don't think he even makes his own art anymore. Likely it is made by unpaid interns.

Has he ever physically made his own art? I remember talking about him with my art teacher back in 1990 and she said Koons outsources the physical work to professional craftsmen. I remember Koons talking about it in a documentary as well. I vaguely remember him saying he uses a Chinese guy for his porcelain work, and he praised his skills. Damien Hirst outsources work as well. If I remember correctly he's practically running his own factory where the workers create the art for him, which is why some pieces are so huge now. These guys create ideas, and other people do the physical work either partly or completely. BTW, there's nothing new about it. Many classic paintings or sculptures were created by a team led by the artist.