Billionaire Ronald Perelman is charging ahead with his bitter court battle against his friend-turned-foe, art dealer Larry Gagosian, after a Manhattan judge on Monday declined to toss fraud claims against the gallery owner.
“The court has affirmed the we have a valid fraud claim against Mr. Gagosian based on his unfair dominance of the art market,” Perelman said in a statement to The Post. “We intend to vigorously pursue that claim.”
The Revlon magnate sued in 2012, claiming the West 24th Street dealer to stars ranging from Jay-Z to Steve Martin, fleeced him on a series of transactions. Among the accusations are that Gagosian inflated the price on a $10.5 million Cy Twombly painting and a $12.6 million Richard Serra sculpture.
Gagosian insisted the claim was ridiculous given that Perelman also is a savvy businessman and the 29th-richest man in America, according to Forbes, which pegged his net worth at $12 billion.
State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick found that although Perelman and associates at his investment company, MAFG Art Fund, are “sophisticated art collectors and investors, the court cannot say” he was “unreasonable” to rely on his dealer to set the prices for major artists.
She quoted Perelman’s argument that “Gagosian has enormous power to influence, and even set, the markets for the artists he represents because of his impressive roster of artists and his access to and knowledge of the largest private collections in the world.”
Kapnick dismissed four other charges against Gagosian, including breach of contract and deceptive business practices.
But she gave weight to Perelman’s claims that his former friend misrepresented the value of Twombly’s red, orange and teal splatter painting “Leaving Paphos Ringed with Waves” and Serra’s wave-like, 13-foot steel sculpture “Junction 2011.”
Gagosian’s attorney, Matthew Dontzin, called the decision a near victory, noting that the judge said she will consider evidence that the super dealer actually undervalued pieces he had sold to Perelman.
“The judge was constrained by the rules of practice and could not consider the overwhelming documentary proof submitted disproving the [fraud] claim,” Dontzin said. “We are confident that once evaluated, it will likewise be dismissed.”
He added, “We were pleased that the judge tossed the vast majority of Perelman’s frivolous suit, an unusual result that testifies to the weakness of the case.”
Kaplan finally released her 30-page ruling Monday, nine months after oral arguments on Gagosian’s motion to dismiss the suit.
After the hearing Kaplan had urged the magnates to settle the matter “together at a cocktail party in the Hamptons.”