Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • AMMpro

New York State Settles Taxes with Aby Rosen, Victoria Gelfand Over Abuse of Resale Certificates

May 3, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Twombly, Venere Franchetti

In the first of what is likely to be many more settlements because New York State is engaged in a long-term investigation into what appears to be the abuse of resale certificates for art that is held or displayed in a collector/dealer’s home.

Auction houses and individuals have received subpoenas and now New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has settled with two prominent art world figures, Aby Rosen and Victoria Gelfand:

The New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, announced a $7 million settlement on Tuesday with Mr. Rosen for failing to pay taxes on $80 million in artwork that he had bought or commissioned since 2002.

[…] Mr. Schneiderman said his office had “uncovered serious abuses” of tax law in the course of the investigation, and he simultaneously announced a separate $210,000 settlement with Victoria Gelfand, an art dealer who had not paid sales or use taxes on 31 works purchased between 2005 and 2013, including John Baldessari’s “It Couldn’t Be Helped,” Richard Prince’s “Piney Woods Nurse,” and Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled No. 217.”

Ms. Gelfand is a director of the Gagosian Gallery, but the settlement involved works that she purchased over the past eight years through her own company, Artemis, said Deidre McEvoy, a lawyer at Patterson Belnap Web & Tyler who is representing Ms. Gelfand.

Ms. Gelfand intended to sell the works, Ms. McEvoy said, and she displayed some of the unsold art in her home.

Developer Aby Rosen to Pay $7 Million in Suit Over Unpaid Taxes on Art (The New York Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Pollock on KarpidasPollock on Karpidas
  • Varejao Soars in LondonVarejao Soars in London
  • Taking a Loss to Gain GroundTaking a Loss to Gain Ground
  • They Don't Call It "Copy Right" for NothingThey Don't Call It "Copy Right" for Nothing
  • Rales Museum to Sell Duplicate Sherman Film Stills as Single LotRales Museum to Sell Duplicate Sherman Film Stills as Single Lot
  • The Broad Buys More Baldessari, Levine, Sherman & MoreThe Broad Buys More Baldessari, Levine, Sherman & More
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: General

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • Sotheby's Celebrates Bauhaus's Centenary with 25 Works in Imp-Mod Sales
  • Frieze LA Sales Report
  • Sotheby's to Sell SFMoMA's $35m Rothko for Acquisitions Firepower
  • Early Gauguin Work Emerges at Sotheby's Paris After a Century in Same Family
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Sotheby's Brings $30m Pollock to New York


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor