AnnieLeibovitz

On November 17 in London Sotheby's and Louis Vuitton will co-host a gala charity auction of six limited-edition Special Orders Vuitton pieces to benefit the Red Cross and commemorate the organization's 150th anniversary. Since its creation in 1854, Vuitton's Special Orders department has made bespoke creations (see Karl Lagerfeld's here) to suit the whims of customers willing to pay for the perfect carrying case to suit their whims. For the Red Cross benefit sale, Vuitton created custom pieces for Damien Hirst (a butterfly armoire), chef Ferran Adrià (trolley case with knife tray), photographer Annie Leibovitz (camera bags), musician and composer Gustavo Santaolalla (instrument case), Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs (dog carrier) and Patrick Louis Vuitton (alligator tool kit), the head of Vuitton's Special Orders department and a member of the fifth generation of the Vuitton family. Each piece was designed by Patrick-Louis Vuitton in collaboration with the celebrity, along with a special Red Cross medical kit trunk (above) with boxes for emergency supplies.

A lavish new coffee table book from Rizzoli titled Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture is a seductive anthology of the famed French fashion house's collaborations with an international group of elite artists, architects, designers, and photographers, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, David LaChapelle, Annie Leibovitz, Takashi Murakami (whose updated LV monogram is featured on the cover) Richard Prince and Stephen Sprouse. Beautiful images are interspersed with critical essays that examine and position Louis Vuitton's patronage, under the guidance of Artistic Director Marc Jacobs, during "one of the most fertile periods of contemporary art and design." The book is divided alphabetically so as to serve as a sort of encyclopedia of the many collaborations, commissions and sponsorships Vuitton, a cornerstone of the LVMH luxury goods empire, has engaged in over the years.

On November 17, 2009, several celebrity-designed luggage will go up for auction at Sotheby's. The purpose is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Red Cross, which is about as worthy an organization as one can imagine. In all seriousness – most people have no idea the true range of services and support that the Red Cross offers. If a soldier overseas needs to be reached because of an emergency back home, the family can call the Red Cross, which will do all the legwork. So, it's exciting to see some big names getting behind this cause.

Among the designers, however, are some artists who have been in the news lately. Annie Leibovitz, fresh from her negotiations with Art Capital Group over her $24 million loan, is finding some time for goodwill despite her financial situation. Her contribution is a red-lined backpack designed specifically for camera equipment.

Damien Hirst has also gotten in on the charitable action. The taxidermist artist who developed a name dumping maritime life in formaldehyde and affixing as many diamonds as possible to skulls has put together a tall black trunk with little drawers to hold surgical devices – which is what Hirst uses to build his ... ummmm ... stuff. This piece, in particular, should be in high demand, now that a Damien Hirst piece may actually have been touched by Damien Hirst. Last November, he laid off 17 of the 22 people involved in his pill cabinet creation.

Let's hope that these pieces – and the others brought to Sotheby's in two months – sell for fantastic prices. Art market be damned! This event is for a great organization, and every extra dollar of success will help someone out who needs it.

So, the artist retains control of her assets, according to the Art Capital Group announcement, "within the context of the loan agreement which shall prevail until satisfied." Essentially, if she doesn't meet the undisclosed terms of the restructuring, she could again risk losing the property she has put up as collateral.

Leibovitz says, "In these challenging times I am appreciative to Art Capital for all they have done to resolve this matter and for their cooperation and continued support." She continues, "I also want to thank my family, friends, and colleagues for being there for me and look forward to concentrating on my work."

Ian Peck, CEO of Art Capital Group, says, "We're gratified to be able to further assist Ms. Leibovitz to achieve financial stability and proud to have been of such value to her at this juncture in her life and career."

Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Leibovitz, says, "Annie is continuing to work to resolve this matter with Art Capital, according to a report by NPR. Montieth M. Illingworth, who is the spokesman for Art Capital Group, told me by e-mail today that there is "nothing to report right now."

What remains are choices ... all of them belonging to Art Capital Group. The art finance institution could allow Leibovitz to renegotiate, extend the loan's timeframe or take a portion or all of the collateral. The estimated value of all the collateral posted is between $80 million and $90 million, though the artistic and real estate assets may not sell as easily as some expect.

It seems as though Art Capital Group is approaching the situation delicately, as it wants to avoid the messiness of bankruptcy proceedings. The answers may come at the next court date, scheduled for October 2, 2009, unless the parties can come to an agreement before then.

As if a lawsuit in state court weren't enough, Leibovitz may find herself in front of a federal judge, soon. Italian photographer Paolo Pizzetti filed the complaint, alleging that Leibovitz had hired him to take site-scouting photos and then used his product – without permission – in a LavAzza calendar, passing the photos off as her own. Specific sites shot include the Trevi Fountain in Rome and Plaza San Marco in Venice. The calendar was released last October. Pizzetti is looking for $150,000 per infringement and other unspecified damages. The Leibovitz camp has no comment yet, as it hasn't reviewed Pizzetti's filings.

The renovations have taken years, resulting in legal action from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and a $15 million lawsuit against Leibovitz by her next-door neighbor. The suit was settled in 2003, when the photographer bought the litigant's building for $1.87 million. So, she wound up paying for three properties (12,000 sq. ft. in all), which contributed to a tenuous financial situation and the loan from Art Capital Group, according to Bloomberg News.

These transactions were only part of a mountain of debt amassed by the photographer. From 1999 to 2008, Leibovitz borrowed extensively to purchase property and refinance the debt she was carrying. In total, her activity stretched to more than a dozen loans, Bloomberg News reports, all on the back of her real estate holdings. Two 2006 loans – for $4.7 million in November and $2.5 million in December – were extended by Rhinebeck Properties LLC, which happens to have the same address as Conde Nast Publications Inc.

Now that she's staring down a $24 million lawsuit, Annie Leibovitz is running out of choices. With Art Capital Group claiming the rights to her photo archive, real estate and other assets posted as collateral, some experts say bankruptcy would buy her some time to find a new plan. But, it would come at the cost of privacy, as the photographers finances would be thrust into the public eye.

Neither Leibovitz's attorneys nor financial advisers returned Bloomberg News' calls for comment, but experts suggest that desperate times call for desperate measures. Filing for protection would push litigation into the future and secure the artist a bit of leverage. Hell, maybe it would buy her some time to see if Miley Cyrus wants to get naked again. I don't know if that would be worth $24 million, but I'm sure it would help Leibovitz to chip away at the debt.

Industry insiders seem to call Art Capital Group a capital source of last resort, though that's probably a bit unfair. If you're pledging collateral or are otherwise transacting in an illiquid market, common sense is necessary. And, let's face it, if traditional banks played in this space, Leibovitz may not have been hit with such tough terms. But, it's hard to believe she didn't know the rules of the game.

Mum's the word for now on Leibovitz's future. One thing is certain, however: she didn't spend the money on makeup.

[Thanks, Jason, for the makeup crack]

We've written before about Annie Leibovitz's financial woes but as Gawker reports, now her lender, Art Capital Group, is taking her to court. Leibovitz borrowed $24 million from the financial firm and as collateral the company took not only her two homes and all her negatives and the copyright to her photographs but also an agreement to sell her archives to repay the loan and the rights to arrange the sale. Art Capital has sued breach of contract saying that she isn't letting real estate agents into her homes and is being difficult in order to block attempts to sell the photos. The suit says that the loan was offered on the assumption that Leibovitz would eventually have to sell her photos to pay back the loan when it comes due in September. As part of the agreement that Leibovitz signed, Art Capital has the rights to administer sales of the work.

At Capital has physical custody of the negatives but the company is after a bigger prize, the intellectual property rights to Leibovitz's portfolio. In order to broker that sort of sale they need Leibovitz's cooperation. Meanwhile, Leibovitz made an agreement with Getty Images in March to work under a "a special multi-assignment collaboration." This deal, done without Art Capital's knowledge, cut them out of getting commission on the photos. The suit doesn't mention any payments that Leibovitz has made to Art Capital against the loan but it is unlikely that she has paid much of it off and as the Gawker article mentions Leibovitz's only out may be to declare bankruptcy. One of Gawker's commenters also makes the point that with the magazine business shrinking and the budget for lavish photo shoots on the wane, Leibovitz's opportunities to make money may be diminished.

Art Capital is in the business of making money off art and sometimes, artists. The company issues loans of $500,000 or more at interest rates from six percent to 16 percent to those who have artwork worthy of making such a loan. It operates like a pawn shop; if you fail to pay and you lose your precious art. Case in point, a Rubens hanging in the Art Capital offices once belonged to Veronica Hearst, the widow of Randolph Apperson Hearst. She mortgaged her art to hold onto Villa Venezio in Manalapan, Florida. She eventually lost the home in foreclosure. Artist Julian Schnabel sued Art Capital this year. He took out an $8 million loan in 2006, when he was building his pink folly known as Palazzo Chupi. Schnabel claims he paid back the loan but Art Capital says it is entitled to more money because Schnabel did not reveal there was an existing mortgage on the property. An ArtInfo article on that suit quotes Gerald Peters, a Santa Fe-based dealer who has bought paintings from Art Capital and says that "the game they have to play is rough, but the service they are providing is real. And there's demand for it."

Investors in trouble often but their art collections up for sale but you don't usually hear about it happening to the artists themselves. The NY Times reports that famous photographer Annie Leibovitz borrowed $5 million from a company called Art Capital Group last fall and in December, she borrowed $10.5 million more from them. Her collateral didn't just include her homes but also the rights to all of her photographs. Considering Leibovitz's breadth of work, the hundreds of magazines and ad campaigns, this is quite an amazing move.

Art Capital Group is doing a tidy business in these uncertain times. The company issues loans of $500,000 or more at interest rates from six percent to 16 percent to those who have artwork worthy of making such a loan. It operates like a pawn shop; if you fail to pay and you lose your precious art. A Rubens hanging in the Art Capital offices once belonged to Veronica Hearst, the widow of Randolph Apperson Hearst. She mortgaged her art to hold onto Villa Venezio in Manalapan, Florida. She eventually lost the home in foreclosure.

Christie's and Sotheby's also offer loans for art but in those cases it is generally bridge loans for art that will be sold later at the auction house.Some choose to take a loan rather than sell, especially right now when pieces of art might be worth a good deal less than they were a year ago. Also borrowing against one's art collection can be a bit more discreet than a sudden sale.

Sean Connery has become the latest iconic personality to star in Louis Vuitton's "core values" ad campaign. The original James Bond posed for Annie Liebovitz near his house in the Bahamas with a waterproof version of Vuitton's famous Keepall bag, WWD reports. The ad (above), which is slated to appear later this month is the latest in a series featuring the likes of Keith Richards, Francis Ford and Sofia Coppola (Vuitton's next guest designer) and Mikhail Gorbachev. Vuitton parent LVMH says the classics-oriented campaign has been getting good results.

Annie Leibovitz is shooting Disney's new ads for the company's Year of a Million Dreams campaign. The ads are far more like high fashion than mass market, despite the use of well known Disney characters. Instead of opting for cartoons, Annie has turned her famous lens onto celebrities that are dressed in character - as Disney stars. Scarlett Johanssen, accessorized with a $325,000 Harry Winston Tiara and Steuben custom glass slippers, stars as Cinderella and David Beckham plays Sleeping Beauty's dragon-slaying Prince Charming. Only a few shots have been done so far, but 10 or 12 (including Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid) are in development. The photos will run as a series in magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, GQ, Conde Nast Traveller, Cookie and The New Yorker. And, with luck, they'll be available as prints, too.