ROGUES IN THE GALLERY: Liars Keep On Lying…Here’s The Proof!
Little lies lead to bigger lies.
And, in the case of the purported “Basquiat” paintings on display at the Orlando Museum of Art, they’re piling up like cars on an interstate highway in a Midwest snowstorm.
Word to these characters: don’t lie about something I can easily disprove.
Because I will.
(Scroll down.)
In the case of Los Angeles attorney, Pierce O’Donnell, it was a classic Freudian slip that gave him away.
In the essay he wrote for the Basquiat exhibit catalogue, O’Donnell tells the tale of two characters, “Billy” and “Lee”, never revealing their true identities.
Except once.
As I’ve established — repeatedly — “Billy” is William Michael Force (AKA “William Michael Parks”) and “Lee” is John Leo Mangan III (AKA Lee Mangin, Lee Tucker and Leo J. Mangan). Both have extensive criminal records, with multiple drug smuggling convictions.
In the excerpt below, O’Donnell was describing a purported activity “Lee” undertook in June 2014 to authenticate the paintings.
Mangan contacted O’Donnell and informed him that Richard Marshall, formerly with the Whitney Museum in New York City, had agreed to travel from his home in La Jolla, California, to New York to view the paintings.
And, although Mangan claimed Marshall “turned flush” when he saw the paintings, and asked if they were for sale, the letter Marshall agreed to send Mangan affirming his opinion the paintings were “authentic” never arrived.
Marshall died unexpectedly on August 8, 2014, at his home in La Jolla.
So, another assertion that cannot be definitively proved or disproved.
But, the Freudian slip O’Donnell makes reveals he sure as hell knew who he was dealing with.
He refers to Mangan as “Leo”, who supposedly waited for months to confirm “with family members that, unfortunately, a draft opinion letter had not been found after Mr. Marshall’s death.”
Hmmm?
Perfect story, right? Not easy to disprove, and O’Donnell’s details are sketchy.
O’Donnell makes another specious claim in his catalogue essay, asserting “Dr. Saggese’s report relied in part on a study by Jim Blanco meticulously comparing all 25 paintings”.
Not true.
The 116-page Saggese document does include a nine-page September 5, 2017 Blanco letter reporting on the six paintings owned by Pierce O’Donnell’s “Basquiat Venice Collection Group” — but nothing on the 19 paintings owned by Mangan’s “MJL Family Trust LLC”.
It’s not really a “trust” per se, rather a business that manages family assets.
“Comparing all 25 paintings with known Basquiats”?
Not true.
And while Blanco has a long list of credentials, he didn’t catch the “Peel” instructions on the front of “One More King-Czar”.
(Guess that wasn’t within the scope of work.)
Coming up next, Mangan’s lies.
