IT TURNS OUT THE ORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART WAS READING MY “Glistening, Quivering Underbelly” BLOG…In June 2021

On June 15, 2018, I received an email from source who requested anonymity.

The message read, in part:

I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLOG ON THIS CON MAN. I WAS GOING TO WIRE THIS MAN 1,000,000 PLUS 250,000 COMMISSION ON MONDAY FOR A PAINTING WORTH 18 MILLION DOLLARS WITH PROOF OF VALUE. IT IS CALLED “CRACK APPLE NIGHTS”.

The source later sent a photo of David Damante, taken in Las Vegas at Art Encounter — a gallery that would play a role in what became the Orlando Museum of Art Basquiat scandal.

The purported Basquiat, said to be worth upwards of $14,000,000, was provided to Damante by Matthew Steakley — an Atlanta man who partnered with Lu Quan to sell “lost Basquiats” that ended up on the walls of the Orlando Museum of Art.

More on this later today.

ABOVE: David Damante, convicted felon, shown with “Basquiat” painting in the back room of Art Encounter.