Jonathan Travis is a budding mogul at the intersection of two notoriously cut-throat, shady industries: contemporary art and New York real estate. As an investigative journalist who has covered both fields extensively, I expected to encounter a certain type of man when I began hearing about his exploits—think tax machinations, rampant flipping, art bartering—and sharpened
World Art Day, celebrated annually on 15 April, is an important celebration of artistic creation and creative endeavour. This year’s World Art Day comes at an interesting time for the market, one where the role of the private collector is under scrutiny. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is heightened visibility of
Within the rarefied business of art, it’s quite possible that no one in recent memory has accrued more influence while staying further away from the spotlight than James Murdoch. Late in 2020, Murdoch’s private investment company, Lupa Systems, closed on a deal to become the new “anchor shareholder” of MCH Group, the Swiss parent company
He’s heir to a wealthy Italian smallgoods dynasty in Australia, yet little else is known about Paul-Charles ‘PC’ Valmorbida, the art entrepreneur linked to Hollywood’s elite. Before he was a flashy New York art dealer photographed alongside international glitterati, Valmorbida was a Melbourne schoolboy and a third generation scion of a family with a $500million
Onyinye Anyaegbu remembers when, as a young girl, she visited an uncle who had an artwork on his wall by the Nigerian artist, designer and architect Demas Nwoko. She greatly admired it, though recalls no one putting a value on it. Last month, Nwoko — now in his late 80s — received the Golden Lion
Established in 2006, Vancouver art advisory firm Howard495 has become recognized globally by both private and commercial clientele for its tailored and collaborative approach. Founder Krista Howard has an extensive academic background in art history, having studied it both at the University of British Columbia and Sotheby’s New York, as well as more than three
Sensing an opportunity to make a bigger mark, Gagosian began carrying fine art, mostly prints and photographs. The actor Steve Martin told me, “When he had his poster shop in Westwood, I went in. I was a novice art collector and he was a novice art dealer.” Martin and other young Hollywood types who were
A glamorous French female art dealer who flew on the Lolita Express with Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell could be a ‘key witness’ and help ‘vindicate’ the Duke of York, it was claimed today. Alexia Wallaert, 51, is named 12 times on the flightlogs of Epstein’s private jets in just under two years –
Emmanuel Perrotin is in the process of selling a 60% stake in his eponymous gallery to Colony Investment Management (Colony IM), a French real estate, credit and private equity business, in order to grow the company. A joint statement released by the companies describes the move as a “pioneering alliance between an investment company and
Earlier this year, a Lebanese art collector was accused of money laundering and violating terrorism-related sanctions in a federal indictment that focused attention on the reported beneficiary of some of his activities: the militant group Hezbollah. The collector, Nazem Ahmad, had been identified by U.S. authorities as a top financier of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based group