Wednesday 16 November 2022 03:32 AM Billionaire Ron Perelman claims paintings 'lost their oomph' and is demanding ... trends now
Billionaire Ron Perelman claimed that five paintings in his collection lost their luster after a fire at his East Hampton estate, and that insurers now owe him $410million.
Though the paintings were not noticeably damaged in the 2018 fire, Perelman claimed they 'lost their oomph' because exposure during the fire, citing his own eye for art as evidence.
But insurance lawyers insisted that the paintings were never exposed to anything harmful during the fire, and accused Perelman of making up the claim as a means to find much needed cash for his floundering financial empire.
Perelman - known for his $2.7billion acquisition of the makeup company Revlon in 1985 - has been offloading millions in assets after years of billion-dollar acquisitions seem to have left him over extended.
Perelman however insists his claims about the paintings - which include a two Andy Warhols, two Cy Twomblys and two Ed Ruschas - are genuine, and has sued his insurers for the hundreds of millions the paintings are worth.
Billionaire Ron Perelman claimed that five paintings in his collection lost their luster after a fire at his East Hampton estate, and that insurers now owe him $410million
Elvis (21 Times) by Andy Warhol is one of Perelman's pieces which he claimed was damaged in the 2018 fire at his estate
When the fire broke out in Perelman's East Hampton mansion in 2018, insurers said the paintings were removed from the home before any damage was brought to them.
In a 2021 deposition though, Perelman said that when the art was returned to the wall he 'noticed some changes,' noting that one of the Twomblys 'didn't have its spark' anymore.
'It didn't have its distinctive definition in the lines, in the swirls,' he said. 'It just lost - it just lost its oomph.'
'All of the pictures lost their luster,' he added, 'lost their depth, lost some of their definition and lost a lot of their character.'
Of a Warhol depicting Elvis Presley, Perelman said 'It doesn't pop like it used to.'
'You know, I go back. That's why they called it Pop Art, he added. A picture is like a piece of music. I mean, if the piano is out of key, and you've heard the piece performed on a piano that's in tune, you know the difference.'
Analysis of the Cy Twombly piece that Perelman said was damaged in the 2018 fire
Analysis of the Andy Warhol piece that Perelman said was damaged in the 2018 fire
Lawyers
