It’s an auction that no one wants to see happen.
The private collection of an alleged art world con artist, who long bragged about her connection with Leonardo DiCapriogoes up for sale in New York next month to pay off some of its significant debt.
Lisa Schiff, 54, was a darling of the city’s art scene for more than a decade. She acquired multimillion-dollar paintings for boldfaces like the Oscar-winning actor, along with Manhattan community figures like real estate heiress Candace Barasch, private equity executive Thomas Hagerty, art world executive Adam Sheffer – “Lisa’s best friend,” a wealthy source told The Post. – and his wife Richard Grossman
Now Schiff’s collection is being liquidated, following a declaration of bankruptcy, in hopes of paying off former clients who have become close friends.
About 200 works – Schiff’s collection includes pieces by big names such as Damien Hirst, Dennis Hopper, David Israel, Judy Chicago and Richard Prince – will appear at the Phillips auction house on Park Avenue in November. They are expected to raise a total of $2 million.
An art world insider expressed concern that the circumstances behind the sale will hamper prices.
“People aren’t excited about buying art that’s embroiled in scandal unless it’s a good opportunity,” the insider told The Post. “It’s one thing if that opportunity is a discreet private sale rather than a Phillips auction.”
But the sale could attract bargain hunters or long-term investors, according to insiders.
“If there’s good stuff in it, it will sell. I don’t think you’re going to get bigger numbers. If anything, you get lower numbers because of the cloud that hangs over everything,” the insider said.
A spokesperson for Phillips said: “The company makes estimates that reflect the quality and rarity of the artworks, also taking into account recent comparable prices.”
According to a civil complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court in May, Schiff’s former friends accuse her of “effectively … running a Ponzi scheme, taking money, accounts and artwork entrusted to [her] by customers… and using them to finance Schiff’s own lavish lifestyle.
Furthermore, according to an affidavit filed in August with the New York State Supreme Court, Schiff owes millions to dozens of collectors, in addition to those in the civil suit referenced above. The affidavit also shows that she is in the hole for $524,000 with American Express.
The Post has contacted Schiff for comment through her attorney.
High-end collectors worked with Schiff because of the access she had to coveted works and the entities that sold them.
“She was in the right circles, had access to the right people and provided them with the right artwork; she knew how to work a room,” the insider said.
Things apparently went wrong when Schiff didn’t have enough money to make up for the sale of a $2.5 million painting by Adrian Ghenie called “The Uncle 3.” It was sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong and they held back Grossman and Barasch, who had participated in the piece.
Things unraveled quickly.
Grossman’s wife, Sheffer, met with Schiff to follow up on the payments. According to the complaint (which does not name him but identifies him as Grossman’s husband), Schiff told him she didn’t have the money and that he should call her lawyer. Then she walked away.
A follow-up text from Schiff did not help her clients much. “I’m sorry and I intend to make things right… It’s just complicated… I know you’ll never talk to me again, but I’ll try to make it right anyway,” he said. the complaint.
The demise of their business relationship hurts even more in light of the fact that transactions in the art world are not just business. Alignments that are the most rewarding – financially and aesthetically – feel like friendships, according to the insider, even though they are built on multi-million dollar foundations.
‘You are going to art fairs togetheryou drink champagne together, you go out to dinner together,” said the insider. “It’s not like sitting in a boardroom. For fraud to grow, you need that relationship of trust.”
According to the complaint, Sheffer met Schiff around 2004 and they began a business relationship that grew into a “deep personal friendship.”
Grossman and Sheffer attended Schiff’s son’s bris, served as “deputy parents” for the child and traveled with mother and son.
Barasch was brought into the fold by Sheffer. She also immediately formed a close bond with Schiff. The complaint states that they traveled to art fairs together and that Schiff enjoyed a high-flying lifestyle.
The complaint alleges that Barasch saw Schiff “spend tens of thousands of dollars at a time on couture and accessories, and purchased jewelry for $20,000 at a time” and that she admitted to paying $25,000 a month for Manhattan apartment rent, plus another $60,000 a year for her son’s tuition at the elite Grace Church School in downtown Manhattan.
Schiff did not come from the art world, but managed to work his way into the infamous clique scene.
She grew up in Miami, graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in art history and moved to Manhattan.
She made her mark working at Phillips – the very place where her collection will be liquidated – and at Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side.
According to Town & Country, after she turned 30 in 1999, her parents cut her off financially and she struck out on her own as an art consultant.
“It was kind of ballsy,” she once told Artsy. “I had no idea what I was doing. I just couldn’t function in the system. I was always feisty and frustrated.”
Nevertheless, something about her inspired confidence among the people she represented.
According to the complaint: “All funds for Barasch’s purchase and sale of artwork continued [Schiff’s] accounts…” To make that happen, the complaint goes on to say that Schiff “requested and received from Barasch authorization and access to certain Barasch credit cards.”
As for what allowed her to gain so much trust from the rich and fabled, a fellow art advisor told The Post: “She was a mover and a shaker. She had desirable paintings, she had her finger on the pulse, found things collectors wanted and did things right.”
The advisor admitted that Schiff once turned him down when he was brought to her $25,000-a-month apartment, saying the art hanging there was just “okay.”
“I didn’t think anything was great,” the advisor continued. “[Big] names and, you know, modest paintings.
He questioned her credibility.
“There are some great dealers out there who are really talented,” the consultant said. “[Others] spin their web. I think she was more of a web spinner.
It clearly worked for a former client who counts himself among those who claim they were duped by Schiff.
“She is super smart and fun,” the collector said. “She seemed sincere. I think she got in way over her head. I don’t think she’s evil, or criminal, or scheming, or anything.”
Such sympathetic words suggest that Schiff could be making a comeback.
“You’d be surprised who you see walking around despite being involved in something like this,” the insider said. “I’ve seen people light up and then they leave [return] to the same dealer for a second time because there is an opportunity to make money. I can only imagine a comeback somewhere.”
