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Sica, Michael Fitzsimmons (PHOTO, r., by Chris Dei)
EXCLUSIVE: Less than 24 hours after CLIFFVIEW PILOT published a story about a Westwood gallery owner’s attempts to reunite a former Bergen County artist with works sold without her knowledge, she found the saleswoman waiting outside her studio this morning — with 30 of her pieces. “I think the story scared the [heck] out of her,” the artist known as Sica said this afternoon. READ MORE….
The artist known as Sica told CLIFFVIEW PILOT she was surprised to learn that a broker gave Michael Fitzsimmons $100,000 worth of abstract paintings and sculpture of hers in exchange for a consignment deposit of $2,000.
She was in for a bigger surprise, she said, when Fitzsimmons later discovered additional pieces at a Hawthorne furniture store.
Asked how it could have happened, both pointed to a Harvard University graduate named Diane Ducharme, who works with a local access cable-TV entertainment program, “The Cognac Show.”
“As an artist, you have to trust who you are working with, so this was a surprise,” Sica told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “I wasn’t aware that she was selling my work and keeping the money.
“I had no idea my work was even at his gallery until Michael called and told me.”
A judge in Hackensack ordered the broker to repay Fitzsimmons his $2,000 three years ago. But he says he’s been unable to find Ducharme, who reportedly owns a company called Art-Ex-Press, which has no web presence. A woman who answered Ducharme’s listed cellphone ealier this week said it was the wrong number.
She is interviewed here:
After Fitzsimmons returned the works, Sica did a well-attended, one-woman show of her colorist paintings, prints, ceramics and sculptures at his Westwood Avenue gallery.
Then came a twist of fate.
An artist himself, Fitzsimmons was placing a Sica painting (pictured, bottom) at a high-end shoe store in town when a woman there told him she’d seen some of the artist’s creations at a furniture store in Passaic County.
Diane Ducharme
Fitzsimmons said he found more than a half-dozen pieces when he went to Home Furniture Store and More in Hawthorne. He called Sica, then took photos.
Two weeks ago, Sica – who now operates studios out of Chelsea and Montauk — gave Fitzsimmons the original invoices for the works. A series of emails followed between him and storeowner Rich Sutton.
“I’m concerned about my artist,” Fitzsimmons said. “When someone through naiveté or just plain trust gets taken advantage of, the right thing should be done.”
“It’s a situation that artists are exposed to,” Sica said. “You don’t know if your art is sold or not unless the salesperson tells you. The only other way you would know is if you see your work somewhere or if someone else sees it.”
Marilyn Sica Thompson began her career in New York City, where she studied at The Art Students League and the Pratt Graphics Workshop. A world traveler, she settled for a time in Saigon, working as Duy Than’s apprentice, and then in Athens with Emanuel Pilidikis. Soon she was participating in international art invitationals and symposiums. She continued moving, with stops in England, Spain and Yugoslavia.
Sica said she and her husband moved to Leonia so that their four children could attend the district’s respected schools. She converted their garage into a studio and operated a small gallery that did fairly well.
Michael Fitzsimmons at his Westwood GalleryHaving left Bergen County three decades ago, Sica now splits time between studios in Chelsea and Montauk. She has exhibited at Le Musée Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, The Brooklyn Museum and several other notable institutions.
Sica prints her abstract designs on metallic paper, which end up looking like brass or aluminum. She also produces bronze sculptures that fetch up to $20,000.
For a time, she was represented by Englewood gallery owner Jeanne Richards. Ducharme stayed with her after Richards’ gallery closed in 2008, agreeing to sell her work, Sica told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Fitzsimmons, who’s lived in Westwood since 1986 and is a former Chamber of Commerce president, has worked in art and framing nearly 30 years. He opened his popular Westwood shop more than a dozen years ago.
The expert staff there conserves as well as restores paintings. They also can choose from a massive array of frames to find the choice that best matches the artwork. Their events tend to draw sizable crowds (SEE: Westwood Gallery).
“We were fairly flush in 2008, so we agreed to take some of Sica’s pieces,” Fitzsimmons told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this week. “But sales weren’t made.”
Ducharme approached him with more work but Fitzsimmons refused, asking that she return his deposit instead. He contacted Sica, then went to small claims court.
Soon after came the Hawthorne discovery.
Sutton told CLIFFVIEW PILOT earlier this week that he had a consignment agreement with Ducharme and assumed Sica was profiting. When Fitzsimmons contacted him with Sica’s number, he said, and he called her directly.
“She’s quite content to use me as a showplace for her art, and I’m happy to give her whatever we make on the sales,” Sutton said. “It’s a good relationship”
Sica agreed.
To be sure there’s accurate accounting on both ends, they’re working up a list of the paintings and sculptures that Sutton has.
“We’re going to deal directly,” Sica told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “That’s ideal for me.”
The same arrangement has worked well with Fitzsimmons, she added (SEE: Sica at Westwood Gallery).
Sica, who has a gallery on W. 19th Street in Manhattan (SEE: SicaStudio.com), said she has no intention of taking Ducharme to court. What happened to her work is part of the risk of being an artist, she said.
“Most of my experiences have been excellent,” Sica said. “But once in awhile something like this happens. I’m just glad it turned out this way.”
Sica’s “Woman’s Right to Shoes”
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