FBI Agents Swarm Prestigious Main Line Art Gallery
Dane Fine Art in Ardmore was closed to the public but very much open to federal investigators on Wednesday.
The FBI at Dane Fine Art in Ardmore on Wednesday morning (photos by Victor Fiorillo)
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The suburban town of Ardmore is a relatively quiet place, not the kind of town that normally attracts the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. But that’s exactly what happened early Wednesday, when FBI agents showed up to Dane Fine Art, a gallery wedged between a nail salon and the watering hole McSorley’s on Haverford Avenue.
I happened to be near the shopping center when I witnessed several FBI agents going in and out of the two-story building; the parking lot was filled with federal vehicles, some of which had FBI placards on their dashboards. “We’re executing a search warrant,” one agent told me. Soon, other agents in tailored suits pulled up in a black SUV. I asked one repeatedly if the group was with the FBI’s art crime team, once presided over by this legend. He nodded, saying “We’re with the FBI.”
I encountered another FBI agent offsite, and asked him what was going on. “You know I can’t tell you,” he said, before conceding that they were executing a search warrant related to an investigation involving the gallery. He declined to provide his name. I was able to peek through the showroom door as agents were entering and exiting and saw agents handling artwork.
Dane Fine Art has been around for decades, selling works by some of the most sought-after names in the art world: Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, and Pablo Picasso. You can browse their impressive Ardmore showroom, or put a piece from your own collection on consignment with them; the gallery also acts as an auction house, with the Dane Fine Art website describing the company as “the world’s largest auction house” and promising that “each work of art comes with a certificate of authenticity and is guaranteed genuine and authentic in perpetuity.”
On Wednesday the gallery was most decidedly closed, with brown paper covering the windows and doors and a handwritten note on the front door reading, “Call [phone number redacted] if locked.” The person answering that number on Wednesday morning declined to identify himself but said he was just an employee. “The owners texted me this morning and said we were closed, but I’m not quite sure why,” he said.
I told him about the FBI’s presence. “I didn’t know anything about that,” he replied before hanging up. He also declined to name or connect me with the owners; my messages to various social media accounts and phone numbers connected with the gallery also went unreturned.
I reached out to FBI-Philadelphia spokesperson Sofia Kettler on Wednesday afternoon, and asked her about the FBI’s presence on the scene. She replied: “The FBI is conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity but has no additional information to provide.”
Ownership of Dane Art Gallery, at least publicly, is murky. The “About Us” section of the gallery’s website has no ownership information. A search of corporation and other business records filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State do not yield an individual name. But an incorporation document filed with the state in 2013 for Dane Fine Art LLC lists a mailing address in Villanova of a property once owned by Leslie Isen, wife of Philadelphia art collector Nathan “Nicky” Isen. A background check on the couple lists that Villanova property as their residential address. Meanwhile, the website for longtime Philadelphia art gallery I. Brewster & Company, which lists Nathan Isen as the owner, states: “You’ve reached our old website. Please visit our new website at DaneFineArt.com.” The I. Brewster & Company website also states: “Please come visit us at our new location: 2320 Haverford Rd” – the very same address that the FBI was searching on Wednesday.
Does the Nicky Isen name sound familiar to you? Isen has led a storied life and has been a major player in the Philadelphia art-collecting world for nearly 50 years. In 2015, Isen pleaded guilty to using art to launder money he believed to be proceeds from drug sales. By entering a guilty plea, he avoided jail time and served probation. (Longtime Philly Mag scribe Steve Volk detailed the life and times of Isen in the 2015 feature “The Curious Case of Nicky Isen.”) Isen could not be reached for comment.
