The U.S. government auctions four artworks related to the 1MDB scandal
Four pieces of art from Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Diane Arbus surrendered to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Gaston and Sheehan, an auction house in Pfergerville, Texas, have been signed by the U.S. government to sell Jean Michelle Basquet Self-portrait (1982) and collage A celebrity (1982), Pablo Picasso Tête de Taureau et broc (1939) and Diane Arbus Toy grenade kids. Online auctions only begin on July 16 and close on September 4. In particular, no artwork is more expensive than buyers.
Art consultants and experts tell Artnews These works are highly qualified and have a “crazy” start-up bid relative to their actual value based on previous auction records and sales information. However, simple auction sites and associations with international fugitives may prevent potential bidders in the already stagnant art market.
“This is not the sexiest place to buy, but it can provide the right opportunity for savvy buyers,” art consultant Dane Jensen told Artnewsnoting the lack of conditional reports and information on where the work is stored may require any serious potential bidders to conduct face-to-face inspections.
Art consultant Arushi Kapoor told Artnews. “If someone sent me this isn’t your website, I might be thinking, ‘Someone is trying to lie to me’.”
Documents submitted by the Ministry of Justice in July 2020 Self-portrait Christopher Joey McFarland surrendered to the U.S. government, who co-founded the Red Granite Picture with former Malaysian Prime Minister’s stepson Riza Shahriz bin Abdul Aziz. McFarland and Aziz also made the 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
The other three artworks were purchased between 2012 and 2014 by Malaysian businessmen and the runaway low taekwondo (also known as Jho Low) and were presented to actor and art collector Leonardo DiCaprio The Wolf of Wall Street. Documents submitted by the Ministry of Justice Dicaprio Artnews‘The Top 200 Collectors List in 2015 and 2016 – After Picasso and Basquet were in Switzerland in 2017, the three artworks were attributed to the U.S. government.
Currently wanted in several countries, including Interpol, for its key role in the 1MDB scandal. The U.S. Department of Justice believes that between 2009 and 2015, Malaysia’s sovereign investment development fund was stolen by $4.5 billion, “by 1MDB and his colleagues’ senior officials, as well as low-level taekwondo (aka JHO LOW), through criminal programs involving international money-making and corruption.”
Artnews Basquet previously reported A celebrity (1982) sold for $3.5 million in the Contemporary Evening Sale in New York in May 2009 at Sotheby’s. Bid first A celebrity At the Marshall Art Auction in the United States, the website was $2.975 million.
Documents submitted by the Ministry of Justice in June 2016 Tête de Taureau et broc (1939), also known as Nature Mott aucrâneacquired $3.28 million in a 2013 transfer bond sale on January 2, 2014. The painting was presented to DiCaprio the same month, and it reads “Happy Birthday Belated! This gift is for you.” and signed Low’s acronym “TKL”.
Two Basquet’s starter bid Self-portrait And Picasso’s Tête de Taureau et broc It was $850,000 at the Marshall Art Auction in the United States.
Documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice also state gelatin silver prints Toy grenade kids (1962) purchased by Arbus from the Cinema Archives, the art and film souvenir company, for $750,000. Bid first Toy grenade kids In the United States, Marshall Art Auction is $4,400.
While the proceeds from federal epilepsy seizures are often transferred to the Ministry of Finance, funds selling assets related to the 1MDB case will benefit those who have been hurt by corruption in Malaysia, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said NPR 2019.
Gaston and Sheehan previously sold two other artworks related to the 1MDB scandal in February 2021: Heinz Schulz-Neudammm’s rare “Metropolis” 1927 movie poster and Andy Warhol’s Round Jackie (1964). The Gold Warhol painting costs $1.04 million, slightly below the low price of $1.055 billion in Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Night Sale in New York in November 2013, and was then given to top 200 collector Swizz Beatz.
Mark Rothko Untitled (yellow and blue)sold at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong last November, a bigger drop. The nearly 8-foot-tall 1954 painting sold for $275 million ($35 million) for $252.5 million ($32.5 million), 30% from the $46.5 million sold in May 2015 at Sotheby’s New York evening sale.
Although some art consultants say associations with lows may also lead to Self-portrait (1982), A celebrity (1982), Tête de Taureau et broc (1939) and Toy grenade kidsAt least one industry expert said it was too early to predict bidding for blue-chip artists.
“A sale price below the estimate or below a prior sale price could be caused by so many factors – it is difficult to tell if it is due to a slump or downturn in the art market, a problem that everyone’s writing about, or if it’s related to an issue with the particulars of this sale and audit process,” Jane Levine, partner and co-founder of The ArtRisk Group, former federal prosecutor as well as former Chief Global Compliance Counsel and Head of Government Affairs at Sotheby’s, tell Artnews. “It’s always hard to know what happens in a public auction, it can go against expectations and improve. It’s part of the fun of auctions, making them so fun, but it’s fun.”
News of the U.S. Marshal’s Auction first reported Lynda Albertson, CEO of the Association for the Research on Art Crime (ARCA). Greg Allen first reported on the 2021 art auction in Gaston and Sheehan.
