HAUNTED BY SCORSESE
Shunned artist’s hidden masterpieces
A oncerenowned New York artist has broken his silence after more than a quartercentury as a recluse, revealing how an interview with The Post, in which he insulted “Raging Bull” director Martin Scorsese, was the start of his downfall.
Chuck Connelly — a former peer to art legends such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and Jeff Koons — talked about his fall from grace and revealed that he has a treasure trove of artwork he has produced over the years and keeps in his home.
Connelly, 60, said he believes a poor review he gave a movie about him by Scorsese poisoned their relationship — and helped make him persona non grata among New York’s art elite.
“After that article, momentum stopped immediately, and then it slowed downwards, a slow decline of the career,” Connelly explained.
In the 1989 Page Six article, Connelly trashed Scorsese’s film about him, “New York Stories: Life Lesson.” He told then-Post columnist George Rush it was “clichéd” and declared, “It ain’t no ‘ Raging Bull.’ ”
“The very day it came out, I got a call from Scorsese’s office saying, ‘Marty’s really pissed at you,’ ” Connelly told The Post on Sunday.
The painter went groveling to the director in an attempt to make amends.
“I wrote him a letter, ‘Cliché is not really a bad thing’ . . . ‘ “Rag ing Bull” was my favorite film ever’ . . . ‘And you’re my favorite director,’ ” Connelly said. “It was already too late. He never talked to me again after that.”
But that wasn’t his only mistake. He also insulted famous art dealer Charles Saatchi, who then bought one of his paintings for $30,000 — and, in revenge, turned around and offered it for just $5,000, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
He spent years drinking heavily until his friends staged an in tervention in 2010. But his painting remained prolific, his home overflowing with thousands of unseen artworks.
Joe Borelli, who owns the Chestnut Hill Gallery in Philadelphia, said Connelly’s hidden pieces are worth millions.
“I think he’s really a genius,” Borelli said. “Maybe right now it doesn’t seem like it’s selling, but he’s got masterpieces over there.”