Billionaire collectors rarely air their deals or dirty laundry in public. But a battle between two prominent figures over a Giacometti sculpture is playing out openly, shedding light on a global market characterized by unlicensed agents, unregulated multi-million-dollar transactions, and widespread secrecy. Justin Sun, a Chinese crypto entrepreneur, and David Geffen, an American entertainment executive, are involved in a heated dispute over the ownership of Alberto Giacometti’s “Le Nez” (“The Nose”) in a federal court in New York. The case involves allegations of secretly selling the sculpture without permission, fraudulent documentation, and conflicting claims of ownership.
Sun, who founded the crypto platform Tron in Singapore, paid $78.4 million at a 2021 auction for “Le Nez,” a sculpture depicting a head in a cage with a long nose. Geffen later purchased the sculpture from an adviser while it was on loan to the Giacometti Institute in Paris for $10.5 million and two unnamed paintings. Sun then sued Geffen and the adviser, claiming the sale without his authorization and accusing the adviser of forgery and impersonation. Geffen retaliated, accusing Sun of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme due to buyer’s remorse over the paintings. Sun’s lawyers countered by accusing Geffen of knowing the adviser was a thief and asking for her detention in China.
Attorneys in the art world say that whether the adviser truly committed theft is pivotal but not the sole determining factor. Mr. Sun could be named the rightful owner if the adviser lacked authority, or Mr. Geffen could keep the sculpture if his reliance on the adviser’s claims was justifiable. Both sides’ versions may be true, and the dispute has generated hundreds of pages of claims and counterclaims with minimal consensus. Billionaire collectors often settle such disputes privately, preventing deeper exposure of the art market’s opaque practices.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/world/europe/geffen-sun-giacometti-nez.html
