There have been more troubles for the mini-art world empire of Louise Blouin and her beleaguered Blouin Media.
The Blouin Artinfo.com site went dark on Aug. 1 with a note saying it was undergoing renovation.
By Thursday, it had managed to send readers to one of its blogs, “Art in the Air,” which promises art news and gossip.
But across the top was a notice: “To Our Readers: The Main Blouin Art Info site is undergoing technical upgrades and will relaunch shortly.”
I stopped by the new Blouin Media headquarters at 88 Laight St. and was told by the receptionist that Louise Blouin “is in a meeting.”
Indeed, a meeting did seem to be under way at a table set up a short distance away, visible from the front desk.
I left my card and departed.
Later Thurday afternoon, Blouin e-mailed me to say, “We had someone hack in. I will ask you to stop harassing us. And never to email us [or come] to our premises again.”
Friday afternoon the site was back up.
Left unanswered was an e-mailed question as to why all the phones listed for the company on its Web site and in media kits clicked to a recording that said variations of the number are no longer in service.
Meanwhile, Bill Fine, a former executive from Blouin Media who recently filed a suit seeking to recover what he claimed were overdue expenses and compensation from the company, has joined the upstart Artnet News as president of sales. Ben Genocchio, a former top editor at Blouin who started the site, said it now has “about 20 ex-Blouin people here.”
And lastly in Blouin news: Lewis Trapp, former EVP, Asia, has gone to NYS Supreme Court, claiming he was owed $60,000 in back pay and expenses when Blouin nixed her Asia expansion and cut him loose after less than a year.
Louise had agreed to start paying him off with increasingly large installments, starting with a payment for $5,000 she made in June.
But she missed the July payment, and now a note of default has been filed, with the full amount upped to $75,000.