Adam Sheffer wanted his money.
It was May 8, 2023, and Sheffer, a veteran art dealer and former executive at Pace Gallery and Lisson Gallery, stood face to face with Lisa Schiff, an art advisor and founder of SFA Advisory, who over the past two decades has acted as an art market fortune teller for the rich, famous, and powerful. Schiff could seemingly do it all: unearth the next hot painter, find highly coveted classics, negotiate sales at breakneck speed, and defy conventional wisdom by acting as a genuine mentor rather than a stuffy art snob.
Sheffer had been a client and close friend of Schiff's for years. She was a conduit through which he bought and sold fine art. Sheffer's most recent sale was an Adrian Ghenie painting. It was jointly owned with his husband, real estate developer Richard Grossman, and the real estate heiress Candace Barasch-who also happened to be one of Schiff's best friends.
Schiff offloaded the painting for $2.5 million in late 2022 through Sotheby's Hong Kong, and she transferred to Sheffer and Barasch $225,000 each from the sale back in January. But she still owed them $1.8 million. Sheffer asked Schiff when he and Barasch would get their money.
Schiff had built a brand so steadfast, so unimpeachable, and she had counted so many of the art world's elite as friends and confidants including Leonardo DiCaprio, her most high-profile client-that Sheffer was shocked when Schiff told him that she didn't have the money and that he should call her lawyer.
These allegations form the basis of a lawsuit by Grossman and Barasch against Schiff and her advising companies filed in the spring. One month later Barasch and her husband filed a second lawsuit against Schiff and her companies relating to other artwork dealings. According to the allegations in these lawsuits, when Schiff told Sheffer she didn't have the money, she just turned around and walked away.
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Town & Country US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Town & Country US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
For Your Eyes Only
A small wedding has many charms. Here's the proof
Anatomy of a Classic
Ballet flats have been around since medieval times. They still know how to have fun.
It's the Capital Gains Tax, Stupid
In the battle for billionaire political donations, the presidential election finally turned Silicon Valley into Wall Street without the monocle.
I'll Have What She's Wearing
Refined neutrals, face-framing turtlenecks, a white coat that says: I've got 30 more. Twenty-five years on, Rene Russo's Thomas Crown Affair wardrobe remains the blueprint for grown-up glamour.
Isn't That RICH?
If fragrance is invisible jewelry, how do you smell as if you're wearing diamonds, not cubic zirconia?
THE MACKENZIE EFFECT
A $36 billion fortune made MacKenzie Scott one of the richest women in the world. How shes giving it away makes her fascinating.
Her Roman Empire
Seventeen floors up, across from the Vegas behemoth that bears her name, Elaine Wynn is charting a major cultural future for America's casino capital, and she's doing it from a Michael Smith-designed oasis in the middle of the neon desert.
Are You There, God? I'm at Harvard
Why on earth are a bunch of successful midcareer professionals quitting their jobs and applying to Harvard Divinity School? Hint: It has nothing to do with heaven.
Bryan Stevenson
He has dedicated his life to defending the unfairly incarcerated and condemned. But his vision for racial justice has always been about more than winning in court.
Emma Heming Willis
Once best known as a model and entrepreneur, today shes an advocate for patients and caretakers dealing with an incurable disease—one that hits very close to home. Here, she speaks with Katie Couric about her mission.
