Producer Joel Silver Sues Koons & Gagosian Over Balloon Sculpture Delays: The New York Post has another lawsuit over a Jeff Koons balloon sculpture never delivered:

• Like Tananbaum, who plunked down for a “Balloon Venus” in magenta, Silver commissioned a similar version of the 8.5-foot-by-5.4-foot stainless steel sculpture in yellow for $8 million, yet never received any proof that the piece was in the works, his suit says. Gagosian Gallery gave a completion date of June 2017, then pushed it back by two years to July 2019 after Silver paid the $3.2 million “because of purported difficulties in completing a ‘digital model,’” the suit says. “The Gagosian Gallery refused, however, and threatened instead to forfeit the $3.2 million unless Plaintiff Silver agreed to continue making payments on a schedule revised to incorporate the delayed completion date,” the suit says. At risk of losing the $3.2 million, Silver agreed last July to pay three installments of $1.6 million with a new estimated delivery date of December 2020. …

Michael Shvo Pays $3.5m in Taxes & Penalties to Settle Charges: The Wall Street Journal reports on collector and Chelsea developer Michael Shvo’s resolves tax evasion charges from the late Summer of 2016:

• Prosecutors said that from 2010 to 2016, Mr. Shvo avoided paying taxes in various ways. In some cases, Mr. Shvo claimed purchases would be shipped to an address in the Cayman Islands or other locations overseas. Prosecutors said the purchases were actually shipped to his homes, which include a Manhattan apartment and house in the Hamptons.…

Lehmann Maupin Buys Gallery Space from Shvo at Record Price: In a building that already has J. Tomlinson Hill’s private museum on two floors above the space just sold, Chelsea’s The Getty will now house Lehmann Maupin gallery, according to The Real Deal:

• The gallery space Lehmann Maupin bought occupies 6,100 square feet on the building’s first and second floors, Shvo confirmed to The Real Deal. He described the sale, which comes out to about $4,400 a square foot, as “a record breaking price for West Chelsea.” …

Jeff Koons’s $300,000 Ice Bucket Is Available at Heritage with No Reserve, Current Bid: $55: Heritage Auctions is offering a Jeff Koons work that has previously sold several times around the $300,000 mark. This particular example is offered without reserve. The bidding began online at $1. At the time of writing, bids up to $55 had been submitted. …

Congress Hearing Testimony on Extending Anti-Money Laudering Regulations to Art Dealers: Pearlstein McCullough & Lederman LLP have issued a client alert following yesterday’s news that EU has already announced requirements for art dealers to verify the identity of buyers of works valued more than €10k. Pearlstein, McCullough & Lederman say the House committee is drafting legislation to be introduced the week of May 14th:

• This latest push to regulate the art market comes after testimony three weeks ago at a closed-door session of the House Financial Services Committee in which prosecutors from the Department of Justice and NY District Attorney’s Office gave testimony about recent cases, such as the recent indictment in the Eastern District of New York of six individuals and four corporations in a $50 million money laundering scheme in which an undercover agent purchase a Pablo Picasso painting to launder fraudulent profits from a stock manipulation scheme.
• In 2005, FinCEN announced regulations for dealers in precious metals, stones, or jewels that required jewelry dealers to establish anti-money laundering programs. While those regulations excluded auctioneers, this time around FinCEN may decide to include auctioneers because of their important role in the fine art market, as well as the fact that many auctioneers gain a significant portion of their revenue from private sales.