Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim has movie-star looks, a new Chelsea gallery — and a reputation for ripping off artists, according to multiple sources who spoke to The Post.
The 38-year-old art seller, known for his blowout Art Basel bashes, has been accused of stiffing artists for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hoerle-Guggenheim vehemently denies these allegations.
“I think he’s kind of a sociopath,” said Carl McCrow, an artist who claims to have had problems with Hoerle-Guggenheim. “He promises [artists] the world and then just operates his collection for his own needs.”
McCrow recounted what happened when he recently showed up at HG Contemporary Gallery to demand payment for a $150,000 artwork sold in September 2018.
“[Hoerle-Guggenheim] took me to the bank to witness him transfer funds for the sale … of my art. I watched him through the glass and then he took me back to his office where he printed out the confirmation of the transfer,” said McCrow.
But, McCrow added, he never received any payment for the artwork and isn’t even sure what the bank meeting was about.
“All I can say is, he is getting paid,” Hoerle-Guggenheim told The Post.
But that’s not the only potentially sketchy behavior the gallerist is accused of. Eyebrows have been raised among city society types about Hoerle-Guggenheim inflating his place within the esteemed family whose name graces major museums.
Hoerle-Guggenheim grew up in Germany with his mother, a diplomat, and father, an architect. He studied in London before moving to the US about 10 years ago — diving into the art world while playing up his famous last name.
“There’s a rich history with the Guggenheim family in the arts, and in my family there are a large number of collectors, as well,” he told The Post.
He admits he adopted the Guggenheim surname, his maternal grandfather’s, only in the last decade and has not legally changed it. The revered Guggenheims who made their mark in the United States art scene have not taken kindly to their distant relative’s name-dropping.
“It is a bit annoying that the name is getting such a bad light,” said one family member related to the late collector Peggy Guggenheim. “It’s not actually his name. His passport says Hoerle … He’s not directly related to the family that had anything to do with building the art collection.”
Hoerle-Guggenheim says he’s not claiming to be “the owner of the Guggenheim museum. I’m far apart from it.”
The Guggenheim Foundation sent him a cease-and-desist letter about five years ago when he originally used Guggenheim in his gallery’s name.
The most famous Guggenheims in the art world are Solomon — for whom the iconic Fifth Avenue museum is named — and his niece Peggy, who founded the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.
That branch of the family arrived in America from Switzerland in the 1840s and made their fortune in mining. In 1937, Solomon R. Guggenheim established his namesake foundation, then hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design his Fifth Avenue museum.
Peggy, whose father went down with the Titanic, was a bohemian rumored to have slept with more than 1,000 men. She hobnobbed with Man Ray and is credited with propelling the career of Jackson Pollock.
While Peggy had eight grandchildren, there are few people who carry the Guggenheim name in the Manhattan art world now. It is unclear which branch of the Guggenheim family Hoerle-Guggenheim’s maternal grandfather descends from.
I think he’s kind of a sociopath
- Artist Carl McCrow
The murky connections made it all the easier for Hoerle-Guggenheim to capitalize on his newly assumed moniker, according to sources.
“One time I was talking to someone at [an event at] the Guggenheim Museum and he came running over and wanted to get photographed,” said a friend of the art dealer. “He wanted to be associated with the museum.” When the photos showed up online the next day, “He was hysterical because they put the wrong name [with his photo].”
“Do you think that’s what I needed? Come on. No comment,” said Hoerle-Guggenheim with a laugh.
In 2017, Hoerle-Guggenheim reportedly told cops he was related to Solomon Guggenheim when being busted for allegedly punching his girlfriend, Camilla Olsson, according to Page Six. (Charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and aggravated harassment, as well as attempted assault and harassment, violations, Hoerle-Guggenheim took a plea deal, but did not admit guilt, and the charges were dropped.)
“He always used it first,” a former colleague said of the prominent name. “That’s how he’s built his social network.”
Despite his flashy clothes, sources suspect Hoerle-Guggenheim’s high-flying lifestyle is a façade.
“He’s pretending to be this big Guggenheim son,” the friend said with a laugh.
Artist Louis Carreon, who has worked with him, said Hoerle-Guggenheim never stayed in hotels when the two traveled, opting instead to crash with friends. He also only flew economy. Carreon claims he often ended up paying for his dinners with the gallerist.
Still, artists admit they were drawn to the name. “I hear the name is Guggenheim and I see he’s done shows with … artists I respect and I was like, ‘OK, cool. We can make this work,’ ” said Carreon.
Artist Jason Dussault, who had a positive experience working with Hoerle-Guggenheim, seconds the sentiment: “Being able to lean on a name that’s synonymous with the art world … it definitely has helped.”
But several artists claim to have had problems with the young wheeler-dealer.
McCrow said he canceled an Oct. 10, 2019, show with Hoerle-Guggenheim after learning that the gallery owner had sold but not paid him for numerous pieces including one called “WHAAM!” for close to $150,000.
Kirk Franke, a collector from Florida, told The Post that he purchased “WHAAM!” in September 2018. It was delivered to him by Oct. 2, 2018. McCrow said he still has not been paid.
Franke says he has experienced his own issues with Hoerle-Guggenheim, as “WHAAM!” was delivered damaged. “It’s been 14 months or so of excuses and promises and zero action on behalf of Philippe . . . Every promise and supposed fixing of the problem has come and gone,” said Franke.
He said Hoerle-Guggenheim keeps promising for McCrow to come to Florida to repair the artwork and stage a show.
“Four days ago, he told me Carl is going to do an exhibition at our house on Dec. 1,” said Franke with a laugh.
Hoerle-Guggenheim did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
McCrow said he never spoke to Hoerle-Guggenheim about this, but added that he recently “reported Philippe to the FBI.” An FBI spokesperson told The Post that the agency “can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”
“The FBI?” asked Hoerle-Guggenheim. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what movie [McCrow’s] living.”
In September 2019, Carreon shut his show with Hoerle-Guggenheim a week early, claiming the dealer failed to pay him for work sold this past spring. (Carreon said he still has not been paid for the art.)
“That’s ridiculous,” said Hoerle-Guggenheim in response.
But, Carreon alleges, the funny business didn’t stop there. “On Sept. 22, after we closed the show . . . [Hoerle-Guggenheim] sold three of my paintings for a discounted rate of $49,000,” he claimed. “He sold these paintings that he doesn’t have! So this [buyer] hits me up and says, ‘Hey, I bought these paintings a month ago and I’m not getting a response.’ ”
Hoerle-Guggenheim admitted he didn’t have access to the paintings once the sale went through, but said that the deal was negotiated prior to the show’s closure.
The buyer could not be reached for comment and The Post could not confirm whether Hoerle-Guggenheim returned the money.
Ironically, many of the artists interviewed by The Post say they liked Hoerle-Guggenheim, despite it all.
“He seems to have a good heart,” said a local artist who claims to have several prints vanish under Hoerle-Guggenheim. “He sold a couple prints of mine [and did not pay] and I confronted him. His response was that he paid for framing and some prints, [but] that was not our deal. It’s 50 percent to [me].”
German artist Tim Bengel also claims to have had troubles with Hoerle-Guggenheim. Bengel allegedly has missing and damaged work valued at $200,000.
Bengel told The Post that upon arriving to New York in October for inspection of his exhibition, only six of 16 works were present and two were damaged. He canceled the show that day and terminated his contract with Hoerle-Guggenheim.
“I asked for the remaining 10 works and was [told] the logistics company was delayed due to a car accident,” Bengel said, adding that all pieces should have been returned to him by Nov. 10.
He called the shipping company, Arrow Express, and “confirmed that there never was an accident and they could have delivered in time, but [Hoerle-Guggenheim] was neither able or willing to pay them,” claimed Bengel. He added that he is paying the total $13,000 bill for shipping and storage, but has three pieces unaccounted for. (Arrow Express had no comment.)
A Bengel representative told The Post: “We filed a [claim] with the Art Loss Register of London for all works being missing. Right now it is being checked on what specific status this registration will obtain: ‘lost/stolen’ or ‘missing/in dispute.’ ”
Hoerle-Guggenheim seemed shocked by Bengel’s allegations. “What? No, this is blowing out of proportion. I discovered this artist when he was still working out of his living room,” he told The Post last week when all 10 pieces were still unaccounted for. “I gave him access to all the pieces and . . . legally signed them over to him. They are ready for him to pick them up.”
In February, a Beverly Hills couple filed a suit against the dealer for failing to deliver $600,000 worth of art. They accused Hoerle-Guggenheim of operating a Ponzi scheme to finance his own “globe-trotting lifestyle,” according to court papers, luring clients into buying art and delaying payment to artists in order to procure new clients. Hoerle-Guggenheim denied this and said the claim “has been settled.”
Despite the artists’ complaints, Hoerle-Guggenheim continues to operate and exist among the art world’s elite.
“He’s really charming,” said his friend. “He will charm anybody.”