Long time dealer and art world dealmaker Jeffrey Deitch (soon to become director of LAMoCA) has spoken out on art speculators, at the same time putting a spin on the role of art dealers saying their job is to place art with good collectors - ie high-profile collectors who hold onto work, often gifting it to art museums. He says: "People laugh at this whole notion of us saying that we 'place' work instead of selling it. But in fact that's what we try to do. We want the work to go to people who are as serious about the works as we are."
Deitch's comments come in the wake of an $8m federal lawsuit filed by Craig Robins, a Miami collector claiming compensatory and punitive damages from David Zwirner. Robins says he is on a blacklist because the artist whose work he sold under a so-called confidential agreement with Zwirner now views him as a speculator. You can read more about the Robins/Zwirner lawsuit here.
Image: Jeffrey Deitch
