Craig Robins lawsuit against David Zwirner’s gallery goes down in flames for Robins–and the art world, according to Randy Kennedy:

Mr. Robins sued, asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Zwirner gallery from selling three paintings in a show of new work, paintings that Mr. Robins contends he should have the right to buy. But Judge William H. Pauley denied the request for the restraining order, in part because Mr. Robins provided no written evidence that the gallery ever agreed to keep the 2004 sale confidential or promised to get him off the blacklist and sell him new works.

In the ruling Judge Pauley wrote that the case “offers an unflattering portrait of the art world – a world of self-proclaimed royalty full of ‘blacklists,’ ‘greylists’ and astonishing chicanery.” In denying Mr. Robins’s request to prevent the sale of the paintings, the judge added that “collectors in this seemingly refined bazaar should heed the admonition ‘caveat emptor.’ ”

Collector’s Motion for Court Order Against Gallery Is Denied (New York Times)