Three months before yesterday’s announcement that Sperone Westwater would close after 50 years in business, dealer Gian Enzo Sperone sued his cofounder, Angela Westwater, claiming he was in a “parasitic deadlock” with her after she wrested control of a corporation that has a 50 percent stake in the gallery.
The suit also accuses Westwater of mishandling funds, withholding records from Sperone and gallery stockholders, and mismanaging rent payments for the gallery. The two dealers are “so divided,” the suit claims, that “they do not even speak directly to one another.”
Founded in 1975 as Sperone Westwater Fischer, with dealer Konrad Fischer who departed in 1982 to found his own gallery, Sperone Westwater has long shown artists such as Bruce Nauman, Francesco Clemente, Susan Rothenberg, Enzo Cucchi, David Lynch, Mario Merz, and many others of note. It is set to close this December with its current show by Richard Long, another staple of the gallery’s programming.
The 50-year-old gallery’s closure was confirmed on Monday night, following a report on rumors of its shuttering by Katya Kazakina in Artnet News from last Friday. Kazakina’s initial report quoted unnamed contractors who voiced allegations similar to some of the claims in the suit, but it did not note the suit itself, which was filed in August in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
The suit was filed by Sperone alongside the Sandstown Trade Ltd., a 50 percent stockholder in Sperone Westwater. (Westwater owns the remaining 50 percent.) According to the suit, Sperone was a director of Sandstown until 2024, when he was replaced by Filippo Pistone, “a trusted family friend who is a successful businessperson and located in the New York area,” per the suit. Pistone appears to be the founder of Bacchanal Wine Imports, which is based in Port Chester, New York.
In an email submitted alongside the suit, Westwater wrote to Sperone that she had “concerns” about Pistone, whom she alleged had been “bullying me with false claims that I and the Gallery have engaged in unlawful misconduct and also his bullying the Gallery’s staff with unduly burdensome demands, many of which have never been requested before.”
Pistone allegedly “misled and baited and goaded” Westwater into saying she would pay $300,000 in rent, and that he sought to have her sever ties with Melvyn Leventhal, a lawyer who worked with her. The lawsuit describes her meeting with Pistone as “cordial.”
Rent ended up being an alleged source of disagreement between Sandstown and Westwater. The lawsuit notes that the gallery’s stockholders put $10 million into Sperone Westwater’s Norman Foster–designed building and the gallery would accordingly pay $1.8 million in rent. Westwater then allegedly sought to change the payment structure because “the Gallery’s program and revenues were in decline such that it cannot afford to pay the agreed rent and, from the limited information shared with Petitioners, is unprofitable and, unfortunately, no longer a leading gallery of contemporary art.” Sperone and Sandstown claim in the suit that Westwater said she could close Sperone Westwater “at any time.”
Westwater then allegedly tried to use “one very high value asset, the Foster Building, to subsidize the other unprofitable asset, the Gallery, including a salary to her and compensation of some kind to her daughter.” Sperone and Sandstown also claim that she increased her own salary without permission from the other stockholder, and allege that she was “reckless” with consigned artworks and the proceeds accrued for them.
A representative for Sperone said that the dealer could not be reached. Luke Nikas and Kathryn Bonacorsi, lawyers for Westwater, sent ARTnews the statement announcing the gallery’s closure, which reads: “After 50 successful years, Sperone Westwater Gallery will be closing on December 31, as co-founders Angela Westwater and Gian Enzo Sperone have decided to pursue separate endeavors. They appreciate everyone who contributed to the Gallery’s success and accomplishments.”
