Art Writer Anthony Haden-Guest Says Socialite and Collector Libbie Mugrabi Won’t Return His Cartoons
Art writer and cartoonist Anthony Haden-Guest, 89, has sued socialite and collector Libbie Mugrabi in New York State Supreme Court, alleging she has refused to return 97 original cartoons that have hung for about 15 years in her Southampton, New York, home. The complaint says Haden-Guest provided the drawings around 15 years ago for a planned exhibition at Mugrabi’s house, with an understanding that she would pay for framing, show them to prospective buyers, and then either sell or return the works, but the exhibition never occurred. The suit claims Haden-Guest began requesting their return in 2024 after receiving exhibition offers and even offered Mugrabi discounted prices to buy any pieces she wanted to keep, but the drawings were not returned. Mugrabi told the New York Post the allegations were “bogus,” and the filing names Jacob Beam as someone familiar with the original arrangement, while noting Beam is not a party to the case.
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This story was covered in Storage Seizures and Restitution Reckonings