A pop artist has sued his friend and an art dealer for $55 million for copying and selling hundreds of works he used as collateral for a loan during a costly 2016 divorce.
Todd Goldman, 55, has accused Eli Weisman and Roy Revivo of stealing and duplicating his work – claiming they did so at a time when he was in financial distress.
Goldman reportedly confided in his boyfriend Weisman about his costly 2016 divorce and asked him for help paying his legal bills. Weisman agreed — and provided his friend with two loans in 2016 and 2017 — with 2,500 artworks as collateral.
However, that loan agreement had “dark and egregious intentions,” according to the lawsuit, seen by the New York Post.
Artist Todd Goldman and actress Emma Stone. Goldman, 55, has accused Eli Weisman and Roy Revivo of stealing and duplicating his work – claiming they did so at a time when he was in financial distress
Eli Weisman and Roy Revivo are accused of stealing and duplicating the artist’s work
According to the lawsuit, Goldman still couldn’t afford the first $40,000 loan when it was due to be repaid and instead gave his friend the artwork as collateral.
It is said that the 2,500 lithographs Weisman was allowed to keep were made at Revivo and fetched nearly $100,000.
Weisman runs gallery and auction house Q-Art – and Revivo is a California businessman.
Artist Goldman has a top-notch clientele — and has sold pieces to Rihanna and Leonardo DiCaprio in the past.
When Goldman ran into financial difficulties again, he struck another deal with the duo — he received a $100,000 loan backed by his $3.5 million worth of paintings.
Revivo wanted to inspect the 800 paintings itself and asked to ship them across the country from Florida to California in a truck in “extreme heat” that began destroying the artwork, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges that he then held the artwork “hostage,” and Goldman demanded the return of $10,000, which Revivo gave “in good faith” to get his artwork back.
According to the lawsuit, “Roy and the defendants did not intend to return the artworks to Todd, but instead intended to take advantage of Todd’s distraction and financial constraints resulting from his divorce to carry out the perfect attempt at fraud against him.” Plaintiffs.
“Meanwhile, time passed and Todd lost millions of business opportunities with his art.”
Examples of Goldman’s work
Examples of Goldman’s work
“The defendants in this lawsuit, keenly aware of the popularity of Todd’s work, like a Trojan horse offered to help Todd when he was down and needed it most, albeit with sinister and egregious intentions.”
Instead of returning the hundreds of artworks, Revivo reportedly changed the terms of the loan, increasing the repayment amount to $25,000 and then $50,000.
Goldman not only didn’t own his work, he missed out on major deals that reportedly cost him millions of dollars.
He had to file for bankruptcy in 2018.
That’s when Revivo and Weisman began making prints of the artist’s work and selling them cheaply online, the lawsuit alleges.
This, in turn, “diluted” Goldman’s brand and also saturated the market, where collectors were unwilling to invest in his work because copies were readily available elsewhere, the lawsuit alleges.
Actress Selena Gomez and artist Todd Goldman
Goldman’s attorney, Victor Feraru, told The Post, “This is one of the most egregious cases of exploitation of an artist’s work that I have seen.”
“Defendants in this case single-handedly diluted the market through illicit reproductions of my client’s work and committed unimaginable fraud in the most vengeful and morally corrupt manner possible.”
“We look forward to this case coming before a jury.”
Weisman’s team said, ‘Qart.com has not reproduced Todd Goldman’s paintings, nor have we reproduced his signature.’ Even a shallow dive would clear it up.’
Revivo and Weisman have both been contacted for comment.