Down—but not Out

The dealer Pierre Huber can’t seem to escape controversy. In February, the 66-year-old Geneva gallerist was ousted as creative director of ShContemporary, the art fair he cofounded and that debuted in Shanghai last September. At the same time, it was revealed that his application to the Art Basel fair, for which he had served on past selection committees, had been rejected.

Shortly after those announcements, Huber released an open letter in which he insisted that the concept of ShContemporary fair was his alone—a reference to its “Best of Discovery” section, designed to showcase emerging regional talent (and Huber’s talent for spotting it). In his February 5 missive, Huber accused his cofounders, the former Art Basel director Lorenzo Rudolf and the Italy-based fair organizer BolognaFiere, of negotiating secretly to exclude him from the fair.

BolognaFiere and Rudolf responded with a statement of their own, insisting that Huber’s letter “presented facts contrary to reality” and made “inappropriate declarations” and that he could not “have the sole right to decide on the existence of ShContemporary or its concept.” They went
on to point out that Huber is subject to a noncompete clause “and therefore may not create a rival event to ShContemporary.”  

The possibility of Huber’s signing up with a rival fair this year is remote (speculation did flare when Art Beijing moved its dates forward to coincide with ShContemporary). He has, however, appealed to Milan’s court of arbitration to resolve his dispute with his former partners.

Their disagreement centers on ownership of the fair’s concept as well as the contract signed by Huber, Rudolf and BolognaFiere in June 2006. Huber’s lawyer, Stéphane Piletta-Zanin, says the contract outlined roles and payment terms for the first six editions of the fair but stipulated that only the initial one could be staged under the auspices of B. F. China Fairs, a BolognaFiere subsidiary. A new, independent company is to manage the fair in the long term, necessitating a fresh contract.

Such a contract was sent to Huber in February. He tore it up, saying it consisted of “obligations but no rights” and was an attempt to demote him to a “silent partner” in return for a 15 percent stake in the new company.

The arbitration case will likely be heard in a neutral country, probably France or Belgium. Piletta-Zanin expects a ruling on who owns the fair’s concept before September. Rudolf and BolognaFiere have so far declined to comment.

Huber’s assertion in his letter that “nobody can predict whether or not BolognaFiere will be in a position to organize ShContemporary in 2008” is probably a bluff. The fair is scheduled to return to the Shanghai Exhibition Center from September 10 through 13. But in what looks like an unintended tribute to the scale of Huber’s input, his role will be filled by a team of 10 curators whom fair officials say are “representative of the artistic diversity of the Asia-Pacific zone.” Rudolf has pointedly stated: “We will never again work with only one artistic director.”

Meanwhile, Huber remains locked in a legal feud with the Paris dealer Enrico Navarra, who has accused him of various conflicts of interest. Huber, for his part, is suing Navarra over a financial dispute (see Art+Auction, January 2008). The showdown came a few months after the controversial Feb­­ruary 2007 sale at Christie’s New York of 74 works from Huber’s personal collection, some of which had been offered to him at a discount because of his promise to show the works in a museum.

Huber’s troubles have not curtailed his ambitions. He says he’s planning a fair of his own in Beijing or Shanghai in 2009 and has “major potential backers” in both cities. He is also considering Hong Kong, whose lower taxes—and less-stringent censorship—appeal to him. “I’m very popular in Asia,” he says. “The fair scene there is booming, but they lack international experience and have great need for advice.” According to a source with ties to the region’s fair operations, Art Beijing is one of several Asian events keen to secure Huber’s services, and he may also be involved with a new exhibition venue on the Bund in Shanghai. Time was too short to participate in a project in 2008, he says: “I don’t want to rush. I want to settle my legal affairs first.”