New York’s Eden Fine Art filed a legal complaint in New Jersey district court last month, saying that collector Jacob Shochat hasn’t paid for some $822,390 worth of artworks he bought from the gallery. The gallery is accusing the collector, who has a background in medical technologies, of breach of contract.
Eden says it began taking orders from Shochat in 2018 for $900,000 worth of “artworks and sculptures.” Based on past experience in which he had paid for his purchases, the gallery handed over pieces, sometimes even personally delivering them to his home in Mahwah, N.J. Eden says it’s a small, family-owned gallery that can’t withstand these kinds of losses and is suing for the balance as well as interest, attorney’s fees, and expenses.
Shochat could not immediately be reached. Eden’s attorney declined to comment for this article.
Founded in 1997 by Cathia Klimovsky, Eden boasts “over 100,000 square feet of spectacular gallery spaces” in locations ranging from New York to Dubai, Aspen to Las Vegas, Miami to the Maldives. It shows about three dozen artists, each of whom is identified on its website with a marketing tagline, including Marco Battaglini (“historical influences in a modern world”), Alec Monopoly (“art realm’s revolutionary”), and Cecile Plaisance (“dare to see differently”).
