Metro

Feud and drinks: Judge tells two art collectors to have cocktails on the beach and end war over Popeye

THE SALE-ERR MAN: Billionaire Ron Perelman (left top) says his ex-pal, art dealer Larry Gagosian, cheated him on deals that included one for this Popeye sculpture (right) by Jeff Koons. (
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I hereby sentence you — to cocktails.

A Manhattan judge made an unusual recommendation yesterday, beseeching billionaire Ron Perelman to settle a bitter spat with his former art-dealer friend over drinks in the Hamptons.

“I really think that these two gentlemen ought to get themselves together at a cocktail party in the Hamptons this summer,” Justice Barbara Kapnick quipped in Manhattan Supreme Court. “This is a crazy case to have going on here in court, and you ought to try to see if this can’t get resolved before I write my decision.”

The Revlon chief sued gallery guru Larry Gagosian last year, saying Gagosian cheated him on art transactions, including for a Jeff Koons Popeye sculpture, which he said Gagosian undervalued at $4 million.

The judge also scoffed at Perelman attorney Marc Kasowitz’s citing of a law that protects consumers. “This deal for $10 million and $12 million of art is not a consumer-oriented type of activity,” she noted.

After Kapnick tossed the consumer claim in the lawsuit, Kasowitz said he’d press forward on the other charges, including contract breach and fraud.

Kasowitz argued that Perelman was duped by Gagosian because the super-dealer had knowledge of private sales and exclusive contracts with top artists such as Koons.

“Mr. Gagosian is probably the world’s leading and most powerful art dealer,” Kasowitz said of the gallery mogul who has represented masters like Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.

“Not only does he have unique knowledge of the art markets — Mr. Gagosian makes those markets,” he stressed.

Kasowitz alleged that Gagosian had entered into a secret contract with a second gallery that put a lien on any profits Perelman could make if he resold the Popeye sculpture.

But Gagosian’s attorney countered that the art dealer didn’t control the price, rather he negotiated it with another savvy businessman. Perelman is the 29th-richest man in the United States, worth an estimated $12 billion, according to Forbes.

Kasowitz also tried to compare his client’s claim to a 2012 case involving the sale of a 19th century painting by Catholic nuns.

“It wasn’t too sophisticated; it was a nunnery,” Gagosian attorney Matthew Dontzin stressed.

“With all due respect, that isn’t Mr. Perelman.”