Lawsuit Claims Artist Scott Kahn Ditched Phillips Asia Show for David Zwirner Deal

Dealer and curator Eric Ian Hornak-Spoutz has filed suit against painter Scott Kahn, who is accused of breaching his contractual obligations to Hornak-Spoutz by abruptly terminating an exhibition at the Phillips in Hong Kong in order to join David Zwirner’s roster.

At the center of the suit, which was filed on Monday in New York State Supreme Court in Westchester County, is the exhibition, which Hornak-Spoutz says was born out of an hours-long Zoom call in November 2022. Also on that call were Jonathan Crockett, chairman of Phillips Asia, and Kahn himself, according to the suit. The exhibition, which was meant to take place between October 26, 2023, and November 5, 2023, was to contain around 50 to 60 paintings. 

While Hornak-Spoutz and Kahn never signed an official contract, the two had been working together, the lawsuit says, since Kahn consigned 20 works to Hornak-Spoutz. Hornak-Spoutz then sold them at Gallery 928, his space in Marina Village in Florida.

The gallery closed in 2014, the same year it tried to sell paintings it said were by Jackson Pollock, then removed the attribution following scrutiny.

Two years later, Hornak-Spoutz was arrested for selling fake artworks he said were by Willem de Kooning. He pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, and was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.45 million.

Hornak-Spoutz claimed that he and Kahn have worked together extensively since 2014, with the dealer allegedly selling dozens of limited-edition works for tens of thousands of dollars and facilitating acquisitions by major institutions, including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Moss-Thorn Gallery in the Schmidt Foundation Center for Art and Design at Fort Hays State University.         

The lawsuit claims that Hornak-Spoutz would have earned a 10–20 percent commission on each of the works at the Phillips exhibition. Kahn’s exhibitions with Almine Rech, his primary gallery at the time, were selling out, and his market was ascendant, with Christie’s selling a Kahn painting for a record-setting $1.43 million in 2022.

Kahn is something of an art market unicorn. In 2022, he had sold-out shows with his Almine Rech in Paris and Harper’s in New York. Even three years earlier, he was unheard of, living in his cousin’s attic. The late painter Matthew Wong, a friend of his, championed Kahn’s work and helped bring him to the of the larger art world.

Hornak-Spoutz claims that Kahn was unhappy with Almine Rech Gallery and allegedly asked Hornak-Spoutz to help him find a new primary gallery, ideally before the Phillips show was opened, to generate more publicity.

Hornak-Spoutz allegedly reached out to Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner, the latter of which officially took on Kahn this past May. Hornak-Spoutz points out that Patricia Crockett, the wife of Phillips Asia chairman Jonathan Crockett, is senior director of David Zwirner in Hong Kong, where the gallery is set to a stage an exhibition by the artist in November.

According to the lawsuit, Kahn abandoned the plans with Phillips Asia, having allegedly failed to provide the agreed-upon pictures, damaging Hornak-Spoutz’s relationship with the auction house.

Hornak-Spoutz argues that without his connections, Kahn would not have gained access to David Zwirner. The suit also claims that Kahn subsequently conspired with key figures at David Zwirner to cut him out of any further dealings. Hornak-Spoutz is seeking at least $7.5 million in damages for lost profits, reputational harm, and the alleged disruption of his business with Phillips Asia.

Phillips, David Zwirner, and Almine Rech did not answer a request for comment by the time of publication. When asked for comment Hornak-Spoutz’s attorney, Deborah J. Denenberg, referred ARTnews to the complaint.