'Internet thief cons artists' by Stuart Service
Photo by Ann Kornuta
Sarah Joncas, 24, pictured holding an authentic print of her painting entitled "A Place to Confide." A knockoff print of the same painting was up for sale on Chad Love Lieberman's website, Art4Love.com, for $300 under a new title, "The Beauty Within," without her consent.
Toronto illustrator Vitaly Alexius began exploring his legal options soon after he spotted 20 prints of his artwork on sale for $300 each.
The 27-year-old is preparing a class-action lawsuit against Art4Love, claiming the website merchandised artwork without permission.
Alexius is a user of deviantArt, an online community for artists. A growing list of more than 550 deviantArt users recently discovered that prints of the creations they shared were on sale at Art4Love.com for $150 to $550.
The site claims to have access to the works of more than 1,200 artists and rights to reproduce more than 15,000 pieces by the emerging and established. Among that collection is work by Alex Garner, an illustrator with Marvel and DC comics.
According to a press release by Art4Love in 2005, the company reached a “co-marketing agreement” with David Sasson, owner of Overstockart.com.
“They wanted to sell our art and we said that’s fine,” Sasson said in an interview.
”We might have even sent them samples so they see what the product is like,” he continued.
“Then they issued a press release about a partnership between us,” Sasson said.
“We’ve never heard from them since.”
When Sasson searched for screenshots of Art4Love.com’s past, he “was very surprised to find that their tagline is basically a plagiarism of ours,” he said.
“Ours is ‘transform your space with hand painted art.’ Theirs is ‘transform your space with canvas art.’”
Art4Love issued another press release in 2005, announcing the signing of an agreement to market the $43 million catalogue of artwork and sculptures by New York artist Lin Evola.
“They took my work,” said Evola when reached on the phone in San Fransisco.
Evola is the founder of the Peace Angels Project, whose goal is to melt weapons off the street and turn them into 30-foot monuments. She is currently in the preliminary stages of building angel sculptures in Los Angeles and New York.
She said she “never received anything” from the agreement.
The Art4Love president and CEO, Chad Love Lieberman, is a 35-year-old New York resident, and also a rapper, an artist, a former stockbroker, and an author. He claims to have sold more than 50,000 copies of his three self-published books.
His literature has been fact-checked since screenshots of Art4Love’s past circulated online. Side-by-side comparisons show significant, word-for-word passages lifted from books written about similar topics.
Sarah Joncas, a 24-year-old Mississauga resident, was “shaking with anger” when she saw a photo of Lieberman posing beside a print of one of her paintings on a news blog.
“The guy wasn’t just selling my work as prints for his own gain -- he was pretending he made the images himself,” she said, adding that she suspects Lieberman made that print from a low resolution image off her professional website.
The photo of Lieberman beside Joncas’ work, one of six images of her pieces he was selling online for $300, accompanied an article boasting about life as an art mogul.
That profile piece on Lieberman was written in 2010 by Joshua Weiss, a deejay and a part-time news blogger for the South Florida Chronicle.
Weiss was asked if he could do some public relations writing when approached by “a buddy of a buddy” named Chad Love Lieberman.
To that end, Weiss was invited into Lieberman’s mansion in West Palm Beach, Florida, and then wrote a thorough, 1,500-word publicity piece about the experience.
“He gives the impression that he has money,” Weiss recalled in a phone interview.
“There was some great artwork on his walls,” he continued. “He seemed pretty legit. I had no reason to believe this guy was pulling a stunt . . . It’s really unfair that he would do what he did. It’s just kind of slimy.”
Chad claimed to Weiss that he’s the nephew of U.S. senator Joseph Lieberman. He allegedly parties with Paris Hilton -- evidencing this with a photoshopped image -- and also said that he signed up for an insurance policy on his testicles to “protect one of the most important parts of my body.”
At the mansion, Lieberman said to Weiss that he’s been told his artistic style is reminiscent of Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.
“I take that as a big compliment even though I never studied them,” Lieberman said.
“The average artist makes just $1,500 a year from their art. I want to make a dent in that,” he said.
“Nobody wants to kill me, and I don’t owe anyone money.”
Art4Love.com and Markyourspot.com, the two websites that hosted the digital museum heists, were taken down on August 17.
Adding to the confusion is the alleged alter-ego of Lieberman: Craig Pravda, owner of Markyouspot.com.
When reached on the phone, Pravda denied that connection.
However, Pravda did endorse Lieberman’s online business plan to “actually take digital art and print oil on canvas,” he said.
“I liked the idea that he had the digital images that were the originals and then would have the oil paintings,” he said.
When asked again if he was Lieberman, he said that he’d received at least 20 calls asking him that same question, or if he is an accessory to the art heist.
“I’m not Chad,” Pravda said. “Why does everyone think we’re the same person?”
Pravda claims to have called the Art4Love phone number, 1-877-226-LUV4, which has been out of service since August 18, and managed to touch base with Lieberman.
Pravda said that Lieberman promised to remove all artwork in question and return MarkYourSpot to the Internet.
“I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s just a little bit frustrating,” Pravda said.
Lieberman deleted his social media accounts as the blasting began on Twitter and the Facebook page “liked” by more than 2,200 people entitled“Stop Chad Love Lieberman from stealing people’s artwork.”
He’s disguised himself at the New York public relations firm where he works. Punching “Lieberman” into the company’s switchboard directory yields one match: Dempsey.
“Susie Dempsey,” says a man’s voice before the recording took over, “is the name of the extension who you wish to reach.”
The phone rings into the voicemail, and then a voice similar to Susie Dempsey’s says “Chad Lieberman, SEO expert” can’t take your call right now.
Lieberman did not return messages requesting comment.
“He’s doing everything he can to not face this music,” said Joshua Weiss, the blogger who interviewed Lieberman in Florida. “I don’t know if he’s facing criminal charges, but he certainly is open to being sued.”
Andrew Hosner, owner of a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, said he’s never seen a theft that compares to Art4Love.
“To take advantage of developing artists is just such a slap in their faces,” Hosner said. “Easier for him to pass off their works as his own when not yet known by the public at large.”
Hosner suggests that those looking to buy prints of artwork should contact the artist directly or shop at a reputable gallery. And always remember to ask for a certificate of authenticity.
“Folks just need to do their homework a bit more and realize no one artist could create so many different styles,” he said.
Regardless of what materializes from the search, Sarah Joncas, the Mississauga resident whose paintings are a favourite backdrop in Lieberman’s home, said she’s glad to see the online art community galvanized.
“It's an inspiration to see people getting active and wanting to make things right,” she said. “At the moment we've still yet to catch him, but there's a fire that's been lit and this guy's running.”
Chad Lieberman has not been convicted of anything in a court of law.