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For the past two years, Miami art dealer Gary Nader has been in a legal battle with a law firm over unpaid attorney’s fees. Now the dispute has grown to involve the possible foreclosure of Nader’s extensive art collection and the building housing that collection.
According to court records reviewed by ARTnews, a lawsuit was first filed against Nader, Gary Nader Corporation, and Nader+Museu I, LLLP by attorney Robert A. Stok in November 2022, on behalf of AIM Recovery Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary used by Stok’s firm, Miami-based Stok Kon + Braverman, to recover unpaid invoices.
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The lawsuit, which was decided this past April, alleged Nader had an outstanding balance of $216,814.42 for legal services between 2018 and 2022, plus interest, at a yearly rate of 12.5 percent. In addition to the unpaid legal fees, the lawsuit alleged breach of contract and unjust enrichment via services provided by Stok Kon + Braverman.
On April 16, Judge Pedro P. Echarte Jr. of the Circuit Court in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami Dade County issued a corrected final judgement in favor of AIM Recovery Services for a total principal amount of $258,656.63. David Winkler, Nader’s attorney, said his client plans to appeal the decision.
A Blue-Chip Collector
Nader has developed a reputation for collecting, promoting, and selling Latin American art. His private collection is filled with blue-chip modern and contemporary artists, including Carlos Cruz-Diez, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Roberto Matta, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and Guillermo Kuitca, as well as more than 100 works by Fernando Botero, according to a biographical résumé provided to ARTnews by a spokesperson for Nader.
After opening an eponymous gallery in Miami in 1986, Nader opened the Gary Nader Art Center in 2006. He established a construction and development company, called Nader+Museu I, LLLP, in 2014; the firm was formed to develop a residential real estate project and museum in Miami.
In October 2017, he planned to sell $100 million worth of artworks from his collection to help fund the construction of a new private museum in Miami. In 2021 Nader collaborated with Pace Gallery on a solo exhibition of Wifredo Lam’s work at the mega-gallery’s New York location. In February, Architectural Digest published a profile of Sofía Vergara, in which the actress credited Nader for her purchase of two pieces by Botero, a large painting of a matador and a black sculpture of a round, inflated horse.
Nader first worked with Stok Kon + Braverman in September 2018. The firm represented Nader in disputes with Miami Dade College over a failed multimillion-dollar development project on the campus that was canceled in 2016, according to Stok. Nader would continue to use the firm’s services through 2022, when the initial complaint was filed.
After the April decision, Stok Kon + Braverman have sought to recover the more than $250,000 owed to them. On June 19, Echarte, the circuit court judge, granted a motion by AIM Recovery Services to execute on the asset “Gary Nader and Company LLC” due to Nader’s sole ownership and sell it publicly. A notice of public sale was filed on June 25. (Nader dissolved Nader+Museu in 2021.)
A listing on the official website for the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Circuit Court reviewed by ARTnews identifies the address of “Gary Nader and Company LLC” as the same one as the Gary Nader Art Center in Miami’s Wynwood arts district. On June 24, Judge Echarte ordered the public sale to be scheduled July 22 at 9am.
On July 2, Stok told ARTnews in an interview that he estimated the value of Nader’s building, based on its location in Wynwood, to be between $25 million and $40 million; Stok said he believed the value of Nader’s art collection inside to be worth more than $500 million. “He’s got some of the best Latin American art in the world, really by the most prominent artists, so it’s a very big deal, I would suspect,” Stok said.
“He Can Do Anything But Not Mess with My Name”
In a phone conversation with ARTnews on July 11, Nader said the lawsuit by Stok’s firm is a clear attempt to hurt his professional reputation and bully him into paying.
“He can do anything but not mess with my name,” Nader added.
Nader said that after paying Stok Kon + Braverman more than half a million in fees, he fired the law firm for being inefficient. “He got fired and he kept sending bills,” Nader said, alleging Stok kept independently litigating against Miami Dade College after he had severed ties with him.
In addition to the Gary Nader Art Center, documents reviewed by ARTnews, also show the AIM lawsuit has sought repayment by going after assets belonging to Nader’s wife, Jennifer Eileen Nader, as well as the freezing of $535,000 held in various bank accounts at Bank of America and Bank OZK (also known as Bank of the Ozarks) with ties to Nader, his corporation, and his relatives.
Nader admonished ARTnews for reporting on the upcoming foreclosure sale, noting he had previously advertised with ARTnews within the past decade.
He added, “I’m an extremely successful and honest man, and I have a reputable name in Miami and all over the world.”
Nader and Winker told ARTnews that they had deposited a bond totaling $513,88.67 to the court clerk that would stop the sale, providing a receipt dated July 12.
The amount of the summary judgment in favor of AIM Recovery Services, including interest and attorney’s fees, is $432,128.90. The proceeds of the sale originally scheduled on July 22 would go first to Stok Kon + Braverman for its current balance, with the remainder then going to Nader.
On July 15, Judge Echarte Jr. officially ordered the cancellation of the public sale of Nader’s gallery and art collection.
Update, July 15, 2024:Added the latest order by the judge.
