Gatsby-like figure at centre of Solomon scandal
It is a good thing when Bruce Bailey calls with an invitation. Recently, for his friend John Massey, it was a luncheon at a club in London.
The food was particularly good. Then there was the penthouse party, with dancers and champagne everywhere.
“He’s a guy who lights fires — and those fires make things,” said Massey, an artist who has known Bailey since he started making inroads into the Toronto art world during the 1980s.
Over the years, dispatches from high-society parties have cast Bailey as a bon vivant, or the Canadian version of Gatsby or Toronto’s “dapper-est dandy.”
This week, he became known for something else — the art collector who reportedly teamed up with CBC host Evan Solomon to sell paintings to Solomon’s contacts among the Canadian elite. The Toronto Star reported the two had a contract that saw Solomon introduce his journalistic contacts to Bailey in exchange for a commission on any art they bought.
Those introductions included BlackBerry co-founder Jim Balsillie, who reportedly bought several paintings, including a Peter Doig piece. Solomon’s alleged commission on those purchases was about $300,000.
Bailey, who has a knack for spotting emerging artists, had amassed a significant collection — including Doig, whom he knew well before Doig paintings were fetching millions of dollars, said Massey, who was once represented by Bailey. “He’s a self-made man. He’s done it on his own,” Massey said, adding Bailey had a stint as an investment banker.
“He finds artists somehow — I don’t actually know how he does it — and he will bring them forward. He helps find them galleries; he buys their work and he moves it around.”
Tuesday, the CBC announced it had “ended its relationship” with Solomon after the Star report.
Solomon released a statement, saying he ended his business relationship with his partner after “a difficult dispute.”
According to the newspaper, the fight was over the percentage he was to be paid as commission.
“I did not view the art business as a conflict with my political journalism at the CBC and never intentionally used my position at the CBC to promote the business,” Solomon said in the statement.
Bailey could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Solomon’s departure is shining a light on the role of brokers in a lucrative business that experts say requires transparency.
Auction houses and galleries can act as brokers or dealers, but there are also many private brokers who represent artists and arrange deals with collectors. The broker’s role can include attending auctions and bidding on behalf of a collector and going to galleries to try to connect collectors with pieces they want.
A broker usually gets a commission on art being sold and experts say disclosing that information prevents distrust and helps build honest relationships.
“Transparency is an enormous issue, because the lack of transparency creates suspicion,” said Shaun Mayberry, co-owner of Mayberry Fine Art in Winnipeg and Toronto. “When you get into the kind of dollar values associated with high-end collectibles, there’s some serious money attached to it and serious commissions being made and the lack of transparency is a key factor.”
The issue isn’t as prominent when dealing through a gallery or an auction house because terms of the sale are often posted on both sides, said Rob Cowley, president of Consignor Canadian Fine Art.
“Commission rates are very clear because there’s a contract,” he said Wednesday.