DealBook: For Embattled Hedge Fund Chief, a Big Art Deal

Steven A. Cohen apparently hasn’t let an insider trading investigation — or an elbow — put a stop to his dealings in art.

The billionaire hedge fund manager is paying $155 million for Picasso‘s “Le Rêve,” according to The New York Post’s Page Six, which cites an unidentified source. The report says the price is believed to be the highest ever paid for a work of art by a United States collector.

Mr. Cohen purchased the Picasso from the casino magnate Stephen A. Wynn, according to The Post, after an earlier deal fell through when Mr. Wynn accidentally damaged the painting with his elbow. For Mr. Cohen, the artwork is a “gift to himself,” and the sale was supposed to be “top secret,” the newspaper’s source said.

Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for Mr. Cohen, declined to comment.

Mr. Cohen, known in the art world for his splashy purchases, has recently been making headlines for other reasons. This month, his hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, agreed to pay $616 million to resolve a pair of federal insider trading lawsuits, the latest chapter in an investigation into suspicious trading. Mr. Cohen has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

There was some concern in art circles about what affect the legal troubles might have on the hedge fund manager’s dealings. He was absent from Art Basel Miami Beach in December, The New York Times reported.

Hedge Fund Inquiry

But the billionaire is apparently still willing to pay top dollar for the right piece of art. “Le Rêve” is a work that he has pursued in the past.

In 2006, Mr. Cohen agreed to buy the painting from Mr. Wynn for $139 million, according to reports at the time. But the deal was canceled after Mr. Wynn accidentally tore a hole in the painting with his elbow.

Now, with the painting repaired, Mr. Wynn may be getting an even higher price for the masterpiece, which shows Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter.

“My feeling was, it’s a picture, it’s my picture, we’ll fix it,” Mr. Wynn told The New Yorker in 2006, recalling how the painting was damaged. “Nobody got sick or died. It’s a picture. It took Picasso five hours to paint it.”

Another unidentified source told The Post that Mr. Cohen “has wanted that painting for a long time. The timing of the sale is just a coincidence.”

Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/for-cohen-a-big-art-deal/?partner=rss&emc=rss