Attorneys are locking horns over whether certain artworks can or should be offered for sale to settle some of the massive debts Lisa Schiff incurred before her once high-flying art advisory business imploded this spring.

The most recent flurry of competing motions centers on a disagreement between Schiff’s attorney, John Cahill, and the attorney assigned to oversee creditor claims, Douglas Pick, over whether two six-figure paintings by Ann Craven should be sold. Craven is a sought-after artist known for her lush depictions of birds, flowers, trees, and other nature scenes.

Schiff, who had long been a visible presence on the international contemporary art scene, was forced to shutter her business almost immediately in May when her former friend and top client Candace Barasch alleged that Schiff had failed to remit $1.8 million owed on the resale of an Adrian Ghenie painting. Other clients then came forward alleging similar improprieties; things escalated quickly after that.

Cahill opposed the sale of the Craven paintings, writing that the reasons for his objection are “manifold,” in an October 24 filing in New York State Supreme Court.

One of the paintings, titled Moon (3-18-12, After White St, 2-26-12, 10:30 PM, Mirrored), aka “Moon  Painting” is Schiff’s personal property. “The ‘Moon Painting’ is now, and always has been, owned by Ms. Schiff personally,” according to the filing. Pick “knows this and has known it for some time,” Cahill asserted.

But Pick fired back in a filing today (October 25), noting that Cahill fails to address that Schiff has been accused of “having wrongly diverted and/or personally profited from the improper use of client proceeds and/or client proceeds derived from sale of clients’ artwork, [and] that an investigation has been commenced,” by U.S. authorities including the U.S. attorney’s Office and the New York District attorney.

Pick continued, “the underlying facts of this assignment proceeding reflect that it is unclear to ‘whose monies’ were used to acquire ‘what paintings.’ Respectfully, Ms. Schiff would be better served by working with the Assignee to maximize a distribution to creditors rather than filing frivolous objections.”

Cahill said he sent Pick separate lists of property including detailed descriptions of artworks based on what was owned individually by Schiff Fine Art LLC, Schiff herself, and her young son. Cahill pointed out that the father of Schiff’s son is an artist and that from time to time since his birth, Schiff and he had received various artworks as gifts from artists.

Cahill alleges that Pick “has not only refused to release property…but has unlawfully withheld it, converted it, and, recently, begun to sell it.”

The Moon Painting was sold to Schiff personally in 2018 by the Karma gallery on the Lower East Side, according to the filing. Cahill notes that the invoice includes a charge for sales tax, which would not have been payable if it was sold to her company because it has resale certificate, exempting it from sales tax.

Cahill also argues that the valuations for the two Craven paintings are too low: “Put simply, [Pick] is offering to sell for $140,000 two paintings that Karma itself appears to value for more than $300,000.”

Cahill also noted that another, smaller painting of birds by Ann Craven, I Wasn’t Sorry (2003), sold in May 2022 from the prestigious Doris and Thomas Amman collection at Christie’s New York for an artist’s record $680,000.

Cahill and Pick declined to comment. Karma did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The legal wrangling reflects the complicated nature of the case, including the need to balance transparency about assets while sorting out creditor claims, with protecting privileged information and complying with the ongoing investigations.

Pick also drilled down on the purported distinction between payments from business versus personal accounts and credit cards. “Assuming for the sake of discussion that Ms. Schiff was simultaneously buying artwork both in the corporate name and her own name, her conduct raises the specter of breach of fiduciary duties to the corporate creditors, unfair competition, alter ego, and/or fraud.”

In one filing by Pick, Jack Mur, a senior advisory department director at Winston Art Group, submitted an affidavit in support of selling both Moon, and another Craven painting, Pink Canary (Stepping out, on Pink, Sunset).

Mur said that Winston and Pick have together made “extensive efforts to market the Paintings to potential purchasers,” with their efforts including publishing a notice of sale in ARTnews magazine and soliciting competitive auction proposals, as well as sending an e-mail “blast” to 273 art professionals it believes were likely to have an interest in the paintings.

The original confidential invoice re: Moon Painting included a three-year period resale clause under which Karma gallery would have a right of first refusal to buy the works back if Schiff were to resell them. Karma currently has a $140,000 offer out for the work though court papers stipulate that higher offers will be considered.

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The post Lisa Schiff’s Art Could Be Liquidated to Settle Her Debts. Attorneys Are Squabbling Over What It’s Worth appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The sticky legal negotiations surrounding the liquidation of Lisa Schiff’s assets have recently grown even more contentious—and now filings in the matter appear to indicate that the dethroned art dealer is or will be subject to more criminal investigations and a federal grand jury subpoena, according to New York County Supreme Court documents.

The back and forth between an attorney for Schiff and an attorney assigned to oversee the distribution of Schiff’s assets, disclosed in court filings as the two tussle over how to proceed with the “voluntary liquidation,” also hinted at new mounting legal perils for Schiff.

The competing motions from Schiff’s lawyer John Cahill and the case’s assignee Douglas Pick have come with a flurry of exhibits, including records of email correspondence between the two. The conversations are revelatory, with one exhibit mentioning that Schiff is currently “subject to a Federal Grand Jury subpoena,” and that she is under investigation by both the U.S. attorney’s Office and the New York District attorney.

The New York District attorney’s Office declined to comment. The U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to request for comment.

The legal wrangling reflects the complicated nature of the case including the need to balance transparency about assets while sorting out creditor claims with also protecting privileged information and further, complying with the ongoing investigations.

Until mid-May, Schiff was a high-profile, well respected art advisor who maintained a well-appointed storefront office space in Tribeca. But a civil suit filed by her former client and close friend Candace Barasch and others revealed that Schiff had failed to remit $1.8 million owed on the resale of an Adrian Ghenie painting. Things snowballed quickly after that.

Following the immediate subsequent filing of a $3.3 million related suit by Barasch and her husband, Schiff shuttered her advisory business and voluntarily filed for insolvency reorganization.

Documents filed earlier this month in that case revealed that there are at least 50 creditors with claims to Schiff’s assets, some with claims of as much as $1 million. Another document listed 894 items currently in Schiff’s inventory, with an estimated market value of £3.1 million ($3.9 million) according to appraisers and advisory group Winston Art Group. Another document listed 108 works worth $1.1 million that were assumed to be in the inventory, but are allegedly missing and have “potential third-party claimants.”

The latest tranche of documents outline disagreements between Cahill and Pick that are largely tangential to the investigations but encumber the progress of the liquidation—and underscore how long and fraught the swirl of legal battles surrounding Schiff’s business are likely to be.

In a motion filed last week, Cahill sought the removal of Pick as assignee, objected to requested delivery of computers and other data storage, and also the retention of Pick’s law firm to assist in the case as well as that of an accounting firm that Cahill said is one of the largest and most expensive in the country.

Pick fired back with a 13-page cross motion filed yesterday (August 30) in which he describes unsuccessful attempts to obtain certain inventory and accounting records without having to resort to incurring additional fees. He also asserted that he previously alerted Cahill and others to the proposed retention of the accountants (Eisner Advisory Group) which he said was “Contrary to Mr. Cahill’s alleged ‘surprise…” at their enlistment. Pick also said it is not unusual to retain one’s own firm in such cases.

On August 4, Pick emailed Cahill, stating: “In order to avoid our filing a motion with the court to address our need for Ms. Schiff to respond to [the] whereabouts of the missing/unaccounted inventory we would request that you immediately reach out to Ms. Schiff and obtain answers for us. Obviously Ms. Schiff can speak directly to Winston Art Group to address the missing inventory.”

According to Pick, five days later, on August 9, Cahill “responded by attacking the Assignee and refusing to produce Ms. Schiff to respond to the above request and wrongly alleging that the Assignor is the sole decision maker in all matters.”

According to Cahill’s email: “Since you drafted it, negotiated it, signed, and filed it in the Court, you know that the Assignment to you does not entitle you, as Assignee or otherwise, to sue, defend, appoint attorneys, or seek to compel testimony, etc. from Ms. Schiff. You agreed that the Assignor would be the sole decisionmaker as to such and related matters.”

To date, according to Pick’s filing, he has retained the Winston Art Group to assist with locating all of the corporate artwork, as well as art stored at Schiff’s office and home, including at a subleased home in California, and to move it to one central location for inventory. He is also trying to ascertain to what extent property may be located in London.

Pick wrote that as part of his duties in the case, he has been reviewing and monitoring “among other things, [Schiff’s] bank accounts and banking transactions to determine and trace whether any monies deposited with [her] for a specific transaction were improperly diverted to or for the benefit of Ms. Schiff.”

Pick noted that an offer on two Ann Craven paintings for $36,000 has already been made and that all sales are subject to court approval. Further, he has received multiple offers relating to the art inventory and they are being carefully reviewed so as to maximize any recovery in the estate according to the filing.

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The post Attorneys Trade Revealing Barbs in New Documents Just Filed in the Ongoing Lisa Schiff Legal Fight appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The sticky legal negotiations surrounding the liquidation of Lisa Schiff’s assets have recently grown even more contentious—and now filings in the matter appear to indicate that the dethroned art dealer is or will be subject to more criminal investigations and a federal grand jury subpoena, according to New York County Supreme Court documents.

The back and forth between an attorney for Schiff and an attorney assigned to oversee the distribution of Schiff’s assets, disclosed in court filings as the two tussle over how to proceed with the “voluntary liquidation,” also hinted at new mounting legal perils for Schiff.

The competing motions from Schiff’s lawyer John Cahill and the case’s assignee Douglas Pick have come with a flurry of exhibits, including records of email correspondence between the two. The conversations are revelatory, with one exhibit mentioning that Schiff is currently “subject to a Federal Grand Jury subpoena,” and that she is under investigation by both the U.S. attorney’s Office and the New York District attorney.

The New York District attorney’s Office declined to comment. The U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to request for comment.

The legal wrangling reflects the complicated nature of the case including the need to balance transparency about assets while sorting out creditor claims with also protecting privileged information and further, complying with the ongoing investigations.

Until mid-May, Schiff was a high-profile, well respected art advisor who maintained a well-appointed storefront office space in Tribeca. But a civil suit filed by her former client and close friend Candace Barasch and others revealed that Schiff had failed to remit $1.8 million owed on the resale of an Adrian Ghenie painting. Things snowballed quickly after that.

Following the immediate subsequent filing of a $3.3 million related suit by Barasch and her husband, Schiff shuttered her advisory business and voluntarily filed for insolvency reorganization.

Documents filed earlier this month in that case revealed that there are at least 50 creditors with claims to Schiff’s assets, some with claims of as much as $1 million. Another document listed 894 items currently in Schiff’s inventory, with an estimated market value of £3.1 million ($3.9 million) according to appraisers and advisory group Winston Art Group. Another document listed 108 works worth $1.1 million that were assumed to be in the inventory, but are allegedly missing and have “potential third-party claimants.”

The latest tranche of documents outline disagreements between Cahill and Pick that are largely tangential to the investigations but encumber the progress of the liquidation—and underscore how long and fraught the swirl of legal battles surrounding Schiff’s business are likely to be.

In a motion filed last week, Cahill sought the removal of Pick as assignee, objected to requested delivery of computers and other data storage, and also the retention of Pick’s law firm to assist in the case as well as that of an accounting firm that Cahill said is one of the largest and most expensive in the country.

Pick fired back with a 13-page cross motion filed yesterday (August 30) in which he describes unsuccessful attempts to obtain certain inventory and accounting records without having to resort to incurring additional fees. He also asserted that he previously alerted Cahill and others to the proposed retention of the accountants (Eisner Advisory Group) which he said was “Contrary to Mr. Cahill’s alleged ‘surprise…” at their enlistment. Pick also said it is not unusual to retain one’s own firm in such cases.

On August 4, Pick emailed Cahill, stating: “In order to avoid our filing a motion with the court to address our need for Ms. Schiff to respond to [the] whereabouts of the missing/unaccounted inventory we would request that you immediately reach out to Ms. Schiff and obtain answers for us. Obviously Ms. Schiff can speak directly to Winston Art Group to address the missing inventory.”

According to Pick, five days later, on August 9, Cahill “responded by attacking the Assignee and refusing to produce Ms. Schiff to respond to the above request and wrongly alleging that the Assignor is the sole decision maker in all matters.”

According to Cahill’s email: “Since you drafted it, negotiated it, signed, and filed it in the Court, you know that the Assignment to you does not entitle you, as Assignee or otherwise, to sue, defend, appoint attorneys, or seek to compel testimony, etc. from Ms. Schiff. You agreed that the Assignor would be the sole decisionmaker as to such and related matters.”

To date, according to Pick’s filing, he has retained the Winston Art Group to assist with locating all of the corporate artwork, as well as art stored at Schiff’s office and home, including at a subleased home in California, and to move it to one central location for inventory. He is also trying to ascertain to what extent property may be located in London.

Pick wrote that as part of his duties in the case, he has been reviewing and monitoring “among other things, [Schiff’s] bank accounts and banking transactions to determine and trace whether any monies deposited with [her] for a specific transaction were improperly diverted to or for the benefit of Ms. Schiff.”

Pick noted that an offer on two Ann Craven paintings for $36,000 has already been made and that all sales are subject to court approval. Further, he has received multiple offers relating to the art inventory and they are being carefully reviewed so as to maximize any recovery in the estate according to the filing.

Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


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If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
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The post Attorneys Trade Revealing Barbs in New Documents Just Filed in the Ongoing Lisa Schiff Legal Fight appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.