David Kordansky Gallery and Sam Gilliam Foundation are facing lawsuits against what they call “rejection” an entity claims to be a real overhanging painting of the late artist.
Drax Fine Art, LLC registered in Albany, New York on July 16, filed a lawsuit against Gallery, Foundation and Gilliam’s widow Annie Gawlak.
In a subpoena filed by the New York Supreme Court, Drax Art was accused of “a concerted effort to deny and slander the true dangling paintings.” The entity is now seeking $6 million in losses.
In the joint statement ArtnewsThe David Kordansky and Sam Gilliam Foundation said the claims in the subpoena were “absolutely understatement” and said they would respond to the complaint if the complaint was filed.
“Some cases date back to the 1970s, when people occupied the residue, usually polypropylene used as drip cloth on the studio floor and tried to sell them in real works,” the gallery and foundation said. “The works in question are unmarked and do not conform to Gilliam’s practice. From this period, there were also serious composition and scale issues for overhanging work.”
Through lawyers, Drax Arts told Artnews This painting is an untitled work from 1972. According to Drax Fine Art, the work was acquired by a construction company at Carl Solway Gallery, a Cincinnati space that offered Gilliam four solo shows in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Drax’s statement, the painting was “installed in their hall until it was acquired by Drax Fine Art.”
Drax accusations Artnews It attempted to sell the painting at auction, while the David Kordansky and Sam Gilliam Foundation “stop sales by taking a ridiculous position, the museum’s quality and fully reversible restoration work constituted somehow irreparable property damage.”
Drax claimed that forensic analysis was then performed and determined that the work could be restored. “In light of forensic and documentary evidence, the Foundation’s position raises disturbing questions about the defendant’s real intention to manipulate Sam Gilliam market and devalue a major artwork,” Drax said in a statement.
A lawyer urged details about Drax Fine Art, calling it “an entity designed to accommodate and manage a private art collection.” Artnews It is impossible to determine the drax art management of its collection. The subpoena lists an address on Manhattan’s Upper East Side as the plaintiff’s residence.
Images of the 1972 untitled work Drax Fine Art says it is an image of Sam Gilliam.
By Drax Fine Art
Gilliam died in 2022 and was praised for his draped paintings in the form of non-stretch canvases scattered with colors. They are often hung on walls to make them seem to hang or hover, occasionally tied to certain places.
Drax’s lawyer sent to Artnews Work pictures of the litigation center. It shows a tall, untie canvas tied in three places, forming the form of a triangle. The piece seems to be done in a place with paint. (The image has not been submitted to the court as an exhibition, but was confirmed as the work involved by David Kordansky Gallery and Sam Gilliam Foundation.)
In addition to being rated by critics and art historians, Gilliam’s draped paintings are also valuable in the market. In 2020 Bloomberg David Kordansky, a dealer who founded the Los Angeles gallery, said he sold it street (1970) In 2019, it was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for less than $2 million.
Drax’s lawsuit came two months after Gilliam’s auction record was reset. May 16, at Contemporary Art Day Auction, Gilliam’s Lei II (1970) was a stretched canvas during the same period, sold for $2.43 million, with a cost of more than $600,000.
