Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., a prestigious artwork advisory agency primarily based in New York, is in turmoil after its namesake founder and her affiliate, the adviser Abigail Asher, filed lawsuits accusing one another of monetary mismanagement and questionable enterprise practices.
Barbara Guggenheim’s lawsuit in opposition to Asher, filed on behalf of her advisory agency, was submitted to the Supreme Court docket of the State of New York this previous August, but it surely was not identified publicly till yesterday, when Katya Kazakina reported information of it in Artnet Information. Asher’s lawsuit in opposition to Guggenheim and her agency was filed yesterday within the Supreme Court docket of the State of New York.
The 2 advisers labored carefully collectively for greater than three a long time, although a latest Cultured article famous that Asher had “not too long ago” gone solo. That profile stated that Asher’s shoppers at Barbara Guggenheim Associates, Inc., included Tom Cruise and firms similar to Sony. Cruise was additionally listed as a shopper of Guggenheim alongside Steven Spielberg and Coca-Cola.
Asher started working for Guggenheim’s agency in 1987, six years after its founding. She started in an entry-level place and rose in stature to a degree the place she was practically named co-owner of the enterprise. Each lawsuits say that Asher declined that supply, although the lawsuits differ on why: Guggenheim’s lawsuit claims that Asher stated no as a result of she was not a US citizen, whereas Asher’s swimsuit says she rejected the function due to “Guggenheim’s historical past.”
“Guggenheim’s lawsuit is a clear act of retaliation by a disgruntled former companion,” Luke Nikas, a lawyer for Asher, stated in a press release. “Her accusations should not solely false—they’re a calculated try and distract from Guggenheim’s erratic, illegal, and unethical conduct, which drove the enterprise to fracture. Asher acted with integrity at each step, and the shoppers in query voluntarily selected to comply with Asher to her new enterprise. We’re assured the reality will come out in courtroom, the place we’ve additionally filed our personal lawsuit in opposition to Guggenheim to carry her accountable.”
“Not like Ms. Guggenheim, who efficiently saved her lawsuit in opposition to Ms. Asher comparatively beneath wraps for the final 12 months, Ms. Asher determined to create a press spectacle along with her personal stunt swimsuit filed in the identical courtroom,” stated William Charron, a lawyer for Guggenheim. “Ms. Asher has solely demeaned herself.”
Guggenheim’s lawsuit facilities round Asher’s alleged efforts to make use of income from the agency for her private enrichment. It claims Asher diverted some $20.5 million towards bills starting from her lease to dinner payments to the maintenance of the roof of her house.
The swimsuit purports to element Asher’s efforts by way of a number of transactions which might be closely redacted within the model of the doc now publicly accessible. (Guggenheim’s swimsuit was initially sealed, then reposted with names of shoppers and artworks blacked out.) One such transaction allegedly centered round a Jean-Michel Basquiat piece that Guggenheim’s agency claims generated $500,000 in income. “Asher has wrongfully taken all such commissions for herself,” the swimsuit claims.
Guggenheim’s swimsuit was additionally filed in opposition to her agency’s CPA, Robert Mandeltort, and Asher’s assistant, Jessica Lewis, whom the agency accused of being “responsible for conspiring with and aiding and abetting Asher.” Lewis denied the allegations in a subsequent submitting. ARTnews couldn’t instantly attain a lawyer for Mandeltort.
Asher’s swimsuit in opposition to Guggenheim takes a extra private tack, accusing the adviser of “bullying,
threatening, and gaslighting for the higher a part of three a long time.”
It explicitly rebuts the agency’s lawsuit, saying that Guggenheim “expensed materially greater than Asher,” allegedly utilizing the agency’s funds to bankroll “her late husband’s funeral prices, luxurious automobiles, and
household holidays, in violation of IRS guidelines,” and accuses Guggenheim of “unethical, erratic, and unprofessional conduct.”
Such conduct, the lawsuit claims, impacted Guggenheim’s relationships along with her shoppers: the swimsuit alleges that Guggenheim regularly despatched “incomprehensible” emails to collectors and their representatives, together with ones to Asher that contained many typos and unintelligible phrases. “Sorry. my pc keys are caught,” Guggenheim allegedly wrote to a collector’s assistant, trying to elucidate these errors. “The collectors didn’t pursue working with GAA,” the swimsuit claims.
However Asher’s swimsuit additionally options allegations that Guggenheim’s practices personally impacted her work. One part facilities round Guggenheim’s alleged push for Asher to work with Jeffrey Epstein, who was later charged with procuring a baby for prostitution and intercourse trafficking.
“Guggenheim additionally inspired Asher to construct a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Guggenheim and her sister have been shut,” Asher’s lawsuit claims. “Guggenheim advised Asher that Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell have been getting concerned with the New York Academy of Artwork, the place Guggenheim’s sister was on the Board. Guggenheim advised Asher that Epstein and Maxwell have been going to be supply of ‘wealthy contacts’ and that Eileen Guggenheim was spending a variety of time with Epstein and would be certain that Guggenheim’s enterprise benefitted from that relationship.”
Responding particularly to the allegations about Epstein, Charron, Guggenheim’s authorized consultant, stated, “Ms. Asher’s reference to Jeffrey Epstein is emblematic of how trashy her entire pleading is. Jeffrey Epstein was by no means a shopper of BGA – his title is thrown in for sensationalism, nothing extra. Ms. Asher’s criticism is suffering from libelous nonsense, and is transparently designed as a negotiating ploy in opposition to BGA’s extra severe, $16+ million lawsuit filed in opposition to her final 12 months.”
The lawsuit goes on to say that Guggenheim led relationships that have been greater than private with sellers and “artwork consultants,” whom she “manipulated with intercourse and monetary kickbacks.”
Per Asher’s lawsuit, their enterprise relationship damaged down in 2022, the 12 months that Guggenheim’s “weird habits reached new heights,” and formally resulted in 2023.
