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Certain artists and dealers associated with auctioned works contend that Huber acquired his collection under the pretense that the works would be given to a museum. As a result, Huber was allowed to acquire pieces at below-market prices.

“Pierre Huber flat-out lied to me,” wrote artist Mike Kelley in an e-mail message. His installation, Test Room Containing Multiple Stimuli Known To Elicit Curiosity and Manipulatory Responses (1999), sold for $1.1 million at the Christie’s auction. “He got this immense work for little over the costs of production based on his promise that it would be given to a public institution.”

Gallery owner David Zwirner told Josh Baer (of The Baer Faxt newsletter) that he thought Huber should not be allowed to participate in the next Art Basel fair. “He has lied and misled not only his fellow dealers but artists such as On Kawara and Thomas Ruff,” Zwirner said. “I don’t want to share an art fair with such a cheat and opportunist.”

The owners of Luhring Augustine, which represents two artists in the auction, Albert Oehlen and Christopher Wool, said they refer to Huber as “Pierre Hubris,” and Lawrence Luhring said he refused to sell to the collector because he “could smell a rat.” Huber instead acquired the Oehlen and Wool artworks works through European dealers and the secondary market.

However, Huber stands by his actions. “The art market is a market like every market,” he said. “You can’t blackmail the collector, tell him, ‘You can buy but you can never sell.’”

The New York Sun: Controversy Surrounds a Christie’s Auction