Judge Blocks Chicago Gallery Sales in US$2.05m Dispute

A New York judge has temporarily barred Kavi Gupta Gallery in Chicago from selling or marketing artworks at the centre of a dispute involving US$2.05 million.

The temporary block, reported on 1 October 2026, was granted in a case brought by Longcraft LLC, the company suing the gallery ARTnews. It freezes any sale or promotion of the disputed works. It does not settle who is owed what.

The order is a temporary restraining order — a short-term court direction that holds the position while lawyers argue the next steps. In the art trade that matters. A work that cannot be marketed cannot change hands, go to a fair or be offered privately.

Such freezes are often used when a court is concerned a work could be sold and lost to a claim before trial. They keep the object available while the paperwork is checked. They do not decide the final outcome.

Public reporting so far puts the sum in dispute at US$2.05 million. It does not list the individual works covered by the freeze. Those details sit in court filings that have yet to be fully tested in hearings.

The case is not the first public claim against the business built around dealer Kavi Gupta. In August 2023, artist Jeffrey Gibson sued the Chicago gallery, alleging it had withheld more than US$500,000 in payments due to him Hyperallergic. Galleries often act as go-betweens, selling an artist's work and then passing on the proceeds less commission and agreed costs. Gibson's claim said that money had not arrived.

Then in January 2025, Artnet News in New York reported that Gupta faced two separate lawsuits, one brought against his gallery and one brought against him personally, with claims centred on alleged mismanagement Artnet News. That report treated the two actions as distinct. It did not merge them with the later Longcraft claim, which carries the higher US$2.05 million figure now before the New York court.

For fans following the story, this means the immediate picture is simple and narrow. The disputed works stay put. No sales pitches. No deals closing in the back room.

Longer questions of payment, ownership and damages will wait for later court dates. The judge will decide whether the freeze continues, changes or lifts.