Sam Gilliam Foundation, David Kordansky Gallery Sued Over ‘Disavowed’ Drape Painting

David Kordansky gallery and the Sam Gilliam Foundation are facing a lawsuit over their alleged attempts to “disavow” what one entity claims is a genuine drape painting by the late artist.

Drax Fine Art, LLC, which is registered in Albany, New York, filed suit against the gallery, the foundation, and Gilliam’s widow, Annie Gawlak, on July 16.

In a summons submitted in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Drax Fine Art accused David Kordansky and the Sam Gilliam Foundation of “concerted efforts to disavow and defame an authentic ‘drape painting.” The entity is now seeking $6 million in damages.

In a joint statement to ARTnews, David Kordansky and the Sam Gilliam Foundation said the claims in the summons were “absolutely frivolous” and said they would respond to a complaint if and when one is submitted.

“There have been cases going back to the 1970s where people have taken remnants, often polypropylene that was on the floor of the studio that served as drop cloths, and attempted to sell them as authentic works,” the gallery and the foundation said. “The piece in question is unsigned and undated, which does not conform to Gilliam’s practice. There are also serious issues of composition and scale for a drape work from this period.”

Through a lawyer, Drax Fine Art told ARTnews that the painting is an untitled work from 1972. According to Drax Fine Art, the work was acquired by an architectural firm from Carl Solway Gallery, a space in Cincinnati that gave Gilliam four solo shows during the 1970s and ’80s. The painting was then “installed in their lobby until it was acquired by Drax Fine Art,” per Drax’s statement, which adds that the gallery had “acquired the Sam Gilliam work in question—a 16 x 26 ft ‘drape painting’—directly from the artist in 1989 before selling it.”

Drax alleged to ARTnews that it had attempted to sell the painting at auction and that David Kordansky and the Sam Gilliam Foundation “blocked the sale by taking the absurd position that museum quality and fully reversible restoration efforts somehow constituted irreparable property damage.”

A forensic analysis was then undertaken, Drax claims, and it was determined that it would be possible to restore the piece. “In light of the forensic and documentary evidence, the Foundation’s position raises very troubling questions about the Defendants’ true intentions to manipulate the Sam Gilliam market and disparage a significant work of art,” Drax said in its statement.

Pressed for detail on Drax Fine Art, a lawyer described it as “an entity that was formed to house and manage a private art collection.” ARTnews was unable to establish whose collection Drax Fine Art manages. The summons listed an address on Manhattan’s Upper East Side as a residence for the plaintiff.

Gilliam, who died in 2022, has been acclaimed for his drape paintings, which take the form of unstretched canvases that are splashed with color. They are often suspended from the walls, so that they appear to dangle or hover, and are occasionally tied in some places.

Drax’s lawyer sent to ARTnews a picture of the work at the center of the lawsuit. It shows a tall unstretched canvas tied in three places, creating a triangular form. The piece seems to have been flecked in places with paint. (The image has not been submitted to the court as an exhibit, but was confirmed as the work in question by both David Kordansky gallery and the Sam Gilliam Foundation.)

In addition to being prized by critics and art historians, Gilliam’s drape paintings are valuable on the market. In a 2020 Bloomberg article, David Kordansky, the dealer who founded his Los Angeles–based gallery, said that he sold Street (1970) to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for just under $2 million in 2019.

Drax’s lawsuit was filed exactly two months after Gilliam’s auction record was re-set. On May 16, during a contemporary art day sale, Gilliam’s Ray II (1970), a stretched canvas from the same period, sold for $2.43 million with fees, surpassing its high estimate by more than $600,000.