Carpenters Workshop Gallery has denied allegations of a culture of sexual impropriety and questionable business ethics, as reported by the newsletter Air Mail last week.
“We are of course saddened by the content of the article in Airmail on 8 June. We do not accept the allegations, which are largely linked to a commercial dispute on which we are not able to comment due to ongoing legal proceedings,” a spokesman for the exclusive design firm tells The Art Newspaper. “We are enormously proud of the business, the community of artists and valued team members that we have established and developed over the past two decades. We are committed to continuing to grow and support each other in the years ahead.”
The Air Mail report claims to be based upon “more than a dozen interviews” with former employees and artists represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery (none of whom are named), which was co-founded by childhood friends Julien Lombrail and Loïc Le Gaillard in 2006 and has galleries in Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. The firm represents some of the biggest names in design including Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé and the Dutch Atelier Van Lieshout, as well as the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and the fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Virgil Abloh. It counts Brad Pitt, Tom Ford, Chrissy Teigen, Dasha Zhukova and her ex-husband Roman Abramovich among its most high-profile collectors.
The report details alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour, mistreatment of artists and dubious art market practices—including bidding up works by their artists that came to auction.
According to the Air Mail report, Le Gaillard and Lombrail behaved inappropriately towards some female employees. Working conditions at Carpenters Workshop were also criticised.
Artists spoke, anonymously, of their alleged mistreatment at the gallery in respect of invoices and expenses. One artist is understood to have filed a lawsuit in the UK, which is ongoing. Others reported a different experience: Hannes Koch of Random International told Air Mail he was always promptly paid and had no issues with the gallery.