From Observer, June 16:
Insurers want a deposition out of Griffin regarding a 2018 fire at Perelman's home that allegedly caused $410 million in art damages.
In the summer of 2020, one billionaire visited the Hamptons home of another to take a look at his collection of fine art—not an unusual occurrence in a seaside hotspot that attracts so many affluent New Yorkers. Ken Griffin, accompanied by mega art dealer Larry Gagosian, headed over to Ron Perelman’s 57-acre estate on an August afternoon to view two paintings for sale.
While Griffin, founder of hedge fund Citadel, left without Cy Twombly’s painting Untitled (1971), he did buy Brice Marden’s Letter About Rock in a deal brokered by Gagosian Gallery and later purchased another Marden painting, River 4. And what should have been a simple acquisition for Griffin has since turned into a months-long legal battle over a 2018 fire at Perelman’s Hampton home.
The backstory involves art with no ‘oomph’
Shortly after Griffin’s visit, Perelman claimed that the artwork held at the property had been damaged in a fire that took place two years earlier. Holding companies for Perelman filed a lawsuit against a group of insurers, alleging that they were refusing to pay out $410 million worth of damages caused to five paintings....
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