Sotheby’s London has issued art and jewelry investor Olyvia Kwok with a £3 million High Court writ for purchasing two artworks on behalf of a client who was unable to pay for them, the Telegraph has reported. Kwok successfully bid £2.49 million for “Water-Worshipper” by Jean-Michel Basquiat and £386,500 for “Idilli” by Cy Twombly at the Contemporary Art Evening Auction back in February. At the time, Kwok described the Basquiat purchase as “a bargain,” adding, “I believe that by the end of the year it will be in a different league. In 18 months we are looking to double what we paid.
Since then, Kwok has claimed that she was acting on behalf of a European client based in Hong Kong, who later failed to produce the funds. She was introduced to the client through a mutual friend. “In ten years of dealings in the business I have never found my trust has been breached in this way,” she said. Sotheby’s filed a High Court writ demanding the £2,974,400 owed, plus interest of £43,964.08. It has also retained the works. However, a spokesperson for the auction house confirmed that while the writ has been issued, the parties involved are “in the process of resolving the matter.”
“We’ve now been paid the majority of the proceeds, and payment in full is in the process of being amicably resolved,” the spokesperson said.
Kwok became an art dealer at the age of 22, with guidance from her godfather Conor Mahony — a former vice-president of the Chinese department at Sotheby’s. She went on to purchase artworks for a private bank in Geneva as part of its $50 million hedge fund. She opened her own gallery in London in 2005, but moved into art investing in 2009 after prices across the art market fell.
No comments:
Post a Comment