Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Mugrabi Family Sue to Regain Their Own Art 

October 24, 2017 by Marion Maneker

The Mugrabi family, who are behind some of this season’s biggest lots, are having a serious problem. They can’t get access to their art due to a deal with Mana Contemporary, the art storage facility in New Jersey. Mana is holding the family’s nearly 1400 works hostage over an unpaid bill of $500,000. The Mugrabis say the bill is a mis-understanding of an agreement they had with the head of Mana.

More to the point, the Mugrabi family feels the action is out of proportion with the bill. In other words, the family cannot conduct business if their access is cut off to art worth at least $100m but the bill is only for $500,000.

But the case also reveals something more basic, the vulnerability of the Mugrabis to a small misunderstanding. It is now also the second time in two years that the family has been embroiled in legal cases involving firms they do a great deal of business with. The earlier case involved an unpaid lot the family bought at Christie’s.

Major Warhol Collector Says Art Stash Being ‘Held Hostage’  (Bloomberg)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • RetrospectivesRetrospectives
  • How Quickly the Diamond Market TurnsHow Quickly the Diamond Market Turns
  • NY Contemporary Art StatsNY Contemporary Art Stats
  • Thomas KinkadeThomas Kinkade
  • Murakami’s Miss Ko2 Tests Market at Sotheby’s HKMurakami’s Miss Ko2 Tests Market at Sotheby’s HK
  • Fresh—and Not-So-Fresh—Works Light Up Christie’s PWC Evening Sale

Filed Under: Collectors

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • A Season of Improvisation: Fall 2020 New York Modern and Contemporary Art Auction Analysis
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Login
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Aboudia, Zemba Luzamba, Dickens Otieno Anchor Contemporary African Art Sale at Artcurial in Marrakesh
  • Re-discovered John Constable Painting at Sotheby's in December
  • Selection Bias In Art Is What Creates Value
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor