When a friend suggested an art investment scheme that returned 20 per cent a year, it seemed an ideal opportunity. But seven years later the claims, like the art, have failed to deliver.
Alexander Stanowitsch, left, with six of the fake paintings that were in the courtroom, and his lawyer David Leggatt outside the Melbourne County Court.
Wayne Taylor
Alexander Stanowitsch made no secret of the fact he knew nothing about art. He liked “colours” and “abstracts”, but cars were more his thing. The 63-year-old, semi-retired property developer wised up to the world of the arts in the most unfortunate of ways and in questionable company. It cost him his pride and his savings.
Last week he took his grievances to the County Court of Victoria, claiming damages of $366,994, plus interest and costs, from a man he once considered a friend. That former friend, Toorak engineer Steven Drake, introduced Stanowitsch to a man whose name sends alarm bells ringing in the art world – Melbourne art dealer Peter Gant.
Gabriella CoslovichWriterGabriella Coslovich is an arts journalist with more than 20 years’ experience, including 15 at The Age, where she was a senior arts writer. Her book, Whiteley on Trial, on Australia’s most audacious of alleged art fraud, won a Walkley in 2018.
