Back in 2017, Angela Gulbenkian’s criminal activities in the art world surfaced … basically selling works (a Warhol and Kusama) that she did not have the authority to sell. In June of 2019, a UK court issued a warrant for her arrest, but she had already fled to Germany.
In June of 2020, it was reported that Angela was arrested in Lisbon, and by December she was finally extradited to the UK. Her trial is scheduled for some time this year.
This week an interesting story appeared in Town & Country outlining the extent of her transgressions… selling a sculpture by Yayoi Kusama to Hong Kong dealer Mathieu Ticolat for $1.4M and never delivering the work. She also ‘sold’ an Andy Warhol to London art dealer James Ashcroft for $150K, and again, never delivered the work. In addition, it seems ArtCube was hit for $15,000, and her former masseuse gave her $65,000 which is now gone.
If you enjoy reading about the Dark Side of the Art World, we are pretty sure you will enjoy the following Town & Country article.