Auction of Diane Arbus photos canceled

Last month I posted about the controversy surrounding the auction of Diane Arbus photos at Phillips'. Bayo Ogunsanya asked Brooklyn Federal Court to stop the sale, saying he had, in effect, been robbed by their true value by Robert Langmuir, a dealer who bought the photos from him. That post got a lot of comments, some heated.

Yesterday, I stopped by to view the exhibition. Phillips employees were setting up chairs for the 7:00 auction.

This morning, the New York Times says the Arbus auction has been canceled. Phillips' website says that a private sale is pending.

Did someone swoop in with a fantastic offer Phillips could not refuse? Does that even happen in the auction world? Or has Ogunsanya  been successful in stopping the sale? The auction house and attorneys are not returning phone calls. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Tom Curran]

I see that the attorney of the litigant suing Langmuir claims that the auction was halted due to the legal action. This may play out for a long time. Langmuir should have settled this quickly versus this kind of protracted case and nasty publicity. Essentially, he's being accused of cheating the little guy...

Does any one out there know anything about Bayo Ogunsanya cheating, with forgeries, a man in California a few years ago for about $400,000 in bogus early jazz, rock and roll and blues posters? Does anyone have any information about him also cheating a New York man with the same scenario for $200,000. How about writing bad checks to various New York City used book dealers. Four at last count and that he has gone by the alias Richard Bailey using the same checks. Or the fact that he has become banned at a major New York City book store chain for selling them forged autographed books and a major New York auction house for similar issues.
The book business is a small one and these are the stories that have surfaced since his lawsuit of Robert Langmuir. I didn't make this stuff up. The book business is a small world and they like to police their colleagues and weed out the bad apples.
If you will take the time, about 3 hours, to read Greg Gibson's new book " HUBERT'S FREAKS" about Langmuir and how the discovery went down you will become better informed on the reality of this con-job. Bayo Ogunsanya claims that Langmuir promised him more money later...no mention of that in Hubert's Freaks...that they had a deal... It was five years between times that they spoke at the sale,early 2003, and co-incidently only after the New York Times article of Nov.22, 2007 touting the discovery and pending auction. How does Langmuir prove a negative? Public should get informed and use blogs for informed truthful conversation and not whining or speculating.
Check out www.Hubertsfreaks.com (by Greg Gibson)
Besides Bayo isn't an innocent collector. He's been a full time dealer for at least 15 years. He has destroyed the hard work pay-off good fortune of Langmuirs' discovery and the auction for the photos. He has embarrasssed the Phillips auction house and tried to highjack Greg Gibson's book reading at the Strand last week. Perish the thought of the many true first editions which were rebdered worthless by his "autographs". Such is the claim of those victimized.
New York lawyers aren't cheap. Some art law attorneys get $900 per hour. Perhaps Ogunsanya's cousin is an attorney or maybe he conned a naive lawyer anxious to make his chops by taking the case on a contingency basis.
Any body that has any facts please come forward. Its your duty. (Bayo please don't bother writing....)
As far as being the "little guy" he is at least 6'2" last time I looked. However I must admit that he seems to be shrinking in credibility and stature every day.

The true story can only be told by me since nobody else knowsn or cares.I purchased the photos in their original trunks at the Aurs moving and storage company in the Bronx New York.I had them in my possession for a year and a half before neeting bob at the 26th street flea market.An agreement was madeand Then I never heard from him again.At that time I had mentioned to boob that there was more of this material that was purchased at the same sale by your so called prince.Out of the 29 lots at the Phillips sale the first 28 were from the group I had.iF ANY BODY CARES or if just to authenticate the validity of my claim I have the original recipt from the sale.The auctioneer is somebody I know for over 20 years.and BOOOB was not at the sale thats for sure.Oh by the way watch out who you are calling jo jo