He Said, He Said

Although the inaugural ShContemporary art fair, in Shanghai this past September, earned plaudits for slick organization and commercial success, its aftermath has been sullied by a war of words—and writs—between Swiss dealer Pierre Huber, its cofounder and creative director, and Paris gallerist Enrico Navarra, an exhibitor.

Navarra has charged Huber with abusing his position at the fair to “outrageously” promote his own activity as a dealer. In an open letter dated October 27, he reeled off a string of accusations about Huber’s “conflict of interests,” saying such behavior “would never be tolerated in Europe or the U.S.” Huber broke his media silence on November 16 to refute Navarra’s claims to Art & Auction.

Among Navarra’s specific complaints was that the Swiss dealer pressured VIP collectors he had invited, including a new club of  “20 Asian supercollectors,” to purchase Asian art directly through him. Huber says he put his commercial activity on hold during the fair, had no input on any VIP purchases made during the gallery visits he organized and, “in fact, sold no work at all during September."

Navarra also blasted Huber for placing an image of a sculpture Huber owns—Lu Hao’s Plexiglas Hundred Flowers in Blossom, 2007—on the fair invitations, catalogue cover and Web site home page. Huber explains that he and his fellow organizers, BolognaFiere and the seasoned fair director Lorenzo Rudolf, had commissioned the work from Lu for promotional purposes because the artist specializes in reproducing buildings and had agreed to depict the distinctive Soviet-built exhibition center where the event was held. He adds that the sculpture was not for sale at the fair and still had not been bought at press time.

Navarra went on to slam the Swiss dealer for creating a Pierre Huber Prize to reward young Chinese artists whom he personally represents. Huber counters that the award was created to help students in the new-media department of the Hang Ju art school and that he has “no financial interest in these artists.”

Huber alleges that what’s really behind all this invective is hard cash and dismisses Navarra’s attacks as a “smoke screen to deflect attention because he owes me money.”

This relates to Huber’s announcement on October 12 that he was suing Navarra for not paying his share of more than 20 Asian artworks the pair had agreed to buy on a 50-50 basis at the start of 2007. Huber claims to be owed more than €500,000 ($722,350), but Navarra maintains that he advanced $1.5 million and never saw the purchases. The Paris gallerist requested that the art be impounded, an action that was carried out on November 16 by police in Geneva.

In addition to his October 12 declaration of intent to sue, Huber served a writ on Navarra on October 23 for inducing Paris businessman Christophe Laurent to sever the lucrative contract he had signed with the Swiss dealer on September 1 to build a $20 million collection of Asian art. Huber claims that Laurent has a financial interest in Navarra’s gallery. Navarra counters that he hadn’t seen the contract before receiving the writ and that Laurent is merely an occasional client.

After reading the contract, Navarra says he understands why Laurent swiftly decided to terminate it, given Huber’s extravagant terms, which included an annual fee of €500,000 ($722,350) for acting as curator and the right to buy any work priced up to $50,000 without Laurent’s prior consent. Huber reports that he had already committed to 25 works when Laurent ended their agreement. “All are being paid for, and I won’t put them back on the market,” he vows. “I keep my word and respect ethical standards.”

The dealer is no stranger to art-world acrimony. When he auctioned 74 pieces from his personal collection at Christie’s New York in February 2007, he was criticized by some of the artists whose works he put on the block and their dealers. They said they had sold him the works at reduced rates with the understanding that he would one day donate them to a museum. “I didn’t have the impression I was getting a huge discount,” Huber said at the time (see Art & Auction, May 2007).

Although Huber reports the fair did not really make him any money, he sees no reason why it should not continue next year. He is pondering his own involvement, however, stating that his honor was “wounded” by Navarra’s accusations. “I am amazed by how much this gentleman hates art and loves money,” he gibes.

Navarra alleges that Huber has threatened him through his lawyer but says he’s not scared and plans to sue the dealer for fraud. In a November 15 letter to Rudolf, who has been silent about the affair, Navarra thunders, “If you had hoped I would lose patience and renounce, you now know you were wrong.”