A variety of artists have accused artwork supplier Reco Sturgis—the founding father of Hugo Galerie in New York, which closed in 2023—of withholding artworks, failing to pay lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in owed funds, and making violent threats by way of electronic mail and textual content message.
In a single message reviewed by ARTnews, Sturgis seemingly threatened to kill a buddy of an artist who had publicly warned others about him: “She is at risk now. This bitch will die. On my mom’s grave,” he wrote.
Sturgis, who’s initially from Atlanta and whose present whereabouts are unknown, has been named in a minimum of one authorized continuing by an artist looking for unpaid gross sales proceeds. In 2023, he was additionally sued by his landlord, Peter Weisman, for nonpayment of hire on Hugo Galerie’s SoHo location. Courtroom paperwork filed within the Civil Courtroom of New York present {that a} settlement of greater than $463,000 was reached, however Weisman advised ARTnews that no funds have been made.
Different firms, together with CFG Service provider Options, Byzfunder, Mantis Funding LLC, DHL Specific, and Sutton Maddison Inc., have sued Sturgis for excellent money owed between 2023 and 2025. The cumulative harm claims in these lawsuits, along with the hire he owes Weisman and overdue funds to artists, exceed $1 million.
Neither Sturgis nor his lawyer, Daniel Kokhba, responded to ARTnews’ requests for remark. In 2023, Sturgis gave a rare interview to Shoutout Atlanta, through which he stated, “The relationships I construct, whether or not with artists or purchasers, or workers, are constructed on respect, admiration, and belief.”
(The artists who’ve made monetary claims in opposition to Sturgis on this article have supplied corroborating invoices, textual content messages, and electronic mail correspondence which have been reviewed by ARTnews.)
British sculptor Beth Carter, who started working with Hugo Galerie in 2016, stated issues started round 2019. “[When he closed to the galleries in 2023] he didn’t inform a lot of the artists—he simply moved everybody’s work into storage,” Carter wrote in an electronic mail to ARTnews.
She claims Sturgis owes her $200,000 and bought a number of giant bronzes after she repeatedly requested for his or her return over the course of a 12 months, together with a life-size Minotaur that price her £10,000 to forged. “He has not paid me for any of those items,” she stated, including that Sturgis bought a number of of her works under what she believes was market worth.
Whereas Carter didn’t signal a consigner settlement with the gallery, she stated Sturgis “recurrently confirmed stock and gross sales data.” She finally retrieved her remaining unsold works—shipped at her personal expense again to the UK—and selected to not sue after receiving authorized recommendation on the price.
“I counted Reco as a buddy of mine (as did my husband) for a few years,” she wrote. “We stayed with him at his residence in New York and he stayed with us within the UK.”
Hugo Galerie’s location in Soho.
Google Streetview/Screenshot
Carter stated that the extended uncertainty has triggered her and different artists who labored with Sturgis “emotional, psychological, and monetary hurt.” ARTnews reviewed emails through which two collectors contacted her about works they declare to have paid Hugo Galerie for however by no means acquired.
One other British sculptor, Joseph Paxton, who began working with Hugo Galerie in 2017, advised ARTnews that Sturgis has refused to return three bronze sculptures and two drawings value a minimum of $70,000 mixed. He additionally claims he’s owed nearly $10,000 in funds. “I solely found Reco had closed the galleries when one other artist from New York who had not too long ago began exhibiting with Reco messaged me to say he’d walked previous the SoHo gallery and seen it was all closed up,” he wrote in an electronic mail.
French artist Patrick Pietropoli advised ARTnews he’s “one of many artists owed probably the most” by Sturgis.
In an announcement, he stated that Sturgis launched Hugo Galerie in 2016 by soliciting $5,000 from a number of taking part artists—a lot of whom had beforehand labored with him at Axelle High-quality Arts, the place he had been a director till founder Bertrand Delacroix died in 2015.
Carter was one of many artists to contribute $5,000 to the gallery’s startup prices, however stated Sturgis paid her again. One other artist who didn’t wish to be named advised ARTnews they have been additionally requested to pay the identical quantity, however selected to not. Pietropoli stated Sturgis’ debt appeared to spiral uncontrolled when he opened a second gallery on Madison Avenue in 2021.
One other artist, who requested anonymity, stated they have been owed €120,000 and had additionally beforehand been represented by Axelle. “Our relationship started falling aside in 2023, when Reco stopped paying and stopped speaking,” they wrote. They echoed that Hugo “unraveled rapidly” after opening the Madison Avenue location.
Whereas they weren’t threatened instantly by Sturgis, the artist stated the supplier had been “emotionally manipulating.” One of many artist’s associates was threatened by Sturgis after she posted a message on-line warning individuals about his conduct. In an emailed reply shared with ARTnews, Sturgis wrote to the artist: “[Your friend] is aware of completely nothing about me or my enterprise… and now she goes to remorse placing her nostril the place it doesn’t belong. I cannot tolerate this anymore. She at risk. This previous bitch will die. On my mom’s grave.”
Sturgis emailed the artist simply this week to say that he’s planning to open a brand new gallery in New York.
“I’ve been engaged on opening one other gallery. However it isn’t as simple as I assumed it will be. I’m decided so it is going to occur ultimately. Most certainly in SoHo once more,” he wrote. He supplied to proceed promoting their work, proposing a better proportion of gross sales “to cowl among the debt owed.”
A number of artists advised ARTnews that after Hugo Galerie closed, Sturgis tried to proceed promoting their work, providing 60 % of gross sales to progressively pay again what he owed.
Canadian painter Joseph Adolphe, who stated he’s owed over $30,000, publicly warned others by way of Instagram in October 2023. “Quite a few different artists are additionally left within the chilly, many with their artwork unretrievable,” he wrote. Sturgis later messaged him: “Please take this publish down… When you harm my popularity with the artwork world, it is going to make it unimaginable for me to pay you.”
In an electronic mail to ARTnews, Adolphe wrote, “After all there’ll by no means be any monetary closure, however a judgement in opposition to him can be good. He’s in hiding, if we will find him, we will serve him and have our day in court docket.”
Painter Brian Keith Stephens, who started working with Hugo Galerie in 2016, filed a criticism within the Civil Courtroom of New York in 2023 through which he alleges Sturgis owes him $40,351.50. Nevertheless, Stephens stated he was unable to serve Sturgis as a result of he couldn’t find him. Stephen additionally advised ARTnews he bought a lot of his works under market worth. “His messages have been delusional and aggressive,” he wrote in an electronic mail, of Sturgis’s state after the closure of Hugo Galerie. “He blamed the artists for his failure as a substitute of taking accountability.” Stephens, who by no means signed a consignment contract, stated his lawyer decided that their correspondence on works, costs, and phrases was adequate to represent a authorized settlement.
In a bunch electronic mail reviewed by ARTnews that Sturgis despatched to many artists he labored with, he directed homophobic slurs at Adolphe and Stephens. In a single message reviewed by ARTnews, he posted a picture of Adolphe’s daughter and named her faculty, which prompted Adolphe to contact campus safety. “The entire thing is a tragic documentation of the machinations of a very disturbed thoughts,” Adolphe stated.
French artist, Benoit Trimborn, advised ARTnews that he started working with Hugo in 2016 and that Sturgis owes him $22,000 after he bought three of his works on Artsy. He stated that he tried to get Sturgis to signal a consigner settlement, however he by no means answered.
“He makes guarantees with out protecting them,” Trimborn wrote in an electronic mail. “I do know that he mistreated many artists past the non-payment of money owed, however I’m not one in all them, I feel I used to be comparatively spared in comparison with different artists.”
French painter Marc Chalmé, who stated he’s owed $48,000, advised ARTnews that he was in a position to retrieve his work however acquired threatening texts and movies from Sturgis. In a single screenshot shared with ARTnews, Sturgis despatched a picture of a masked man holding a knife with the caption, “Hold posting shit about me.” Chalmé had beforehand posted on Fb about Hugo, writing “Unhealthy expertise with this gallery, no fee for a sold-out present.”
In one other message to Chalmé reviewed by ARTnews, Sturgis wrote: “If I hear that you’re persevering with to defame me … there can be penalties. I promise you.”
At one level, Sturgis’s lawyer Daniel Kokhba despatched a cease-and-desist letter—reviewed by ARTnews—to a number of artists on his behalf, claiming that their statements constituted “tortious interference” and “libel.
On the time of this writing, the social media pages for Hugo Galerie and its on-line offshoot, Sturgis Artwork Gallery, stay lively—although they haven’t posted since April and March, respectively.
