The ups and downs of artists’ and photographers’ lives are generally beyond the scope of FT Alphaville’s expertise, with the occasional exception, perhaps, of the financially savvy ones such as Damien Hirst or, in this case, the financially troubled celebrity photographer, Annie Leibovitz.
Leibovitz’s tangles with an art-finance company over a hastily arranged $24m loan and US tax authorities have been well-documented over the past couple of months (see Related Links, below). The saga, with all its ugly twists, is now lurching towards its denouement.
On Monday, it was reported that Leibovitz had gained an extension to repay a $24m loan from Art Capital Group, a New York-based art finance business, until Tuesday, September 8, or else lose control of two homes and more significantly, the copyright over her work .
With decades of high-profile celebrity photography behind her and a life as tempestuous and colourful and many of her subjects, it’s little wonder that the grim details of Leibovitz’s financial travails have galvanised photography buffs and legions of Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone readers worldwide.
So there’s much speculation around on Tuesday about what Gawker described as Leibovitz’s “financial Doomsday clock” as it hits midnight. Notes the Guardian:The parlous state of her financial affairs has captivated New York’s celebrity scene, where Leibovitz is as much a fixture as many of her subjects. She has earned a reputation for lavish tastes and finds herself mired in financial troubles despite enjoying a reported $2m salary from Condé Nast, publishers of Vanity Fair.
As for Art Capital, which describes its mission as “private banking for the art world”, to “assist art owners in creating liquidity from art assets”. The terms of its one-year loan to Leibovitz – that is, for collateral that amounts to virtually everything she owns of significance – seem rather harsh, to say the least. If you have doubts, the LA Times reports the gory financial details. The fact Leibovitz signed up to the deal, however, speaks more about why photographers should stick to photography.
As if that weren’t enough, according to the Guardian, an Italian photographer is now suing Leibovitz for allegedly stealing his work and passing it off as her own.
Of course, notes Gawker, “that’s hardly the worst thing on her plate right now”. As it commented last month, filing for bankruptcy may be Leibovitz’s best option:
Though some money-minded insiders suggested Leibovitz filed for bankruptcy to protect herself from Art Capital’s wrath, she hasn’t. Still, it’s unclear whether Art Capital will make good and declare her in default, thus forcing her into bankruptcy, which would give a judge power of her assets and provide a bit of much-needed breathing room.
On top of all this, Leibovitz is also struggling on other legal fronts to contain a welter of claims against her estate.
No wonder she has returned to the market to sell some of her works – we presume as quickly as possible before Art Capital can get its hands on it.
So when FT Alphaville visited Tokyo Photo at the weekend – an inaugural international photography fair – we were immediately drawn to six signed Leibovitz prints displayed prominently at a booth run by renowned New York photography dealer Jamese Danziger.
The prints, typically striking Leibovitz celebrity portraits, were priced at a modest $8,500 (modest, that is, compared to the Man Ray photograph sold by another dealer for close to $500,000 – and a portrait of Richard Wagner on sale for $1m).
However, Danzinger – who only began again to represent Leibovitz last month, after representing her for a decade from 1990 – sold just one of her prints. Well, it was a beginning, to bring American photography to Japan, he said philosophically.
As for Leibovitz – she had been given “bad advice” and with a strong team now behind her, everything would be straightened out. We’ll see, when that financial Doomsday clock strikes midnight.
Related links:
How could this happen to Annie Leibovitz? – New York Magazine
For Annie Leibovitz, a fuzzy financial picture – New York Times
Annie Leibovitz may lose control of her iconic images – Digital Journal