Amy Chozick

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Max's daughter Libra has now taken over her father's studio and is suing Park West. She's filed a restraining order to keep her brother away. Both Max children have also accused their stepmom Mary of abuse and neglect of Peter Max, including trying to kill him with a Brazil Nut — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

This practice continued for years until early this year, when I started asking around. Park West, the gallery that operates the at-sea auctions, compared Max to Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst and said his process met every legal standard. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

...Max would come to the studio twice a week and be instructed to sign the art that looked vaguely like his own. These works would then be sold on the world's cruise ships. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Max’s estranged son and a cadre of business associates oversaw a paint-splattered studio on the Upper West Side above the Shun Lee Chinese restaurant, where nearly 2 dozen artists - some recruited off the street and paid minimum wage - churned out Max's art. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Months of reporting, thousands of pages of court documents later, I found out Peter Max was 81, has advanced dementia and hadn't painted in four years. And yet his studio kept churning out art for cruise ships. How? — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Back on dry land, I wondered where was Peter Max in all of this? How did he go from pop art icon to selling art on cruise ships often for as much as $30,000? — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Cruise art auctions include free champagne and almost entirely revolve around an iconic artist named Peter Max. TBH, I hadn't heard of Max, but for baby boomers, he is like Andy Warhol, a major pop art sensation in the '60s and 70s. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

So, in December, my family and I went on a cruise, because...why not? https://t.co/4A6mgWjOXV — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Last year, I got an anonymous tip about art auctions on cruise ships. This is an alternate art universe for the 24 million people who take cruises each year. The tipster (and lawsuits) alleged fraud and misleading sales practises on the high seas. (The gallery denies that.) — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

This is one of the strangest, saddest, most holy-shit surprising stories I've ever worked on. Here's a thread about how it came about... https://t.co/B1unjbeT2U — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @sarahw: When I was on a cruise earlier this year I was curious — and skeptical — about the Peter Max art auctions. The real story, as @… — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@sarahw Thank you, Sarah. That is exactly what happened to me - curiosity on a Caribbean cruise led me to that space abov Shun Lee on the UWS. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @DavidGrann: This is one of the wildest and most unnerving pieces you’ll read. (by @amychozick ) https://t.co/baVigAePFV — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

I am spending this lovely Memorial Day closing a story. It's a wild, sad, surprising tale that I've spent the past several months not just working on, but down-the-rabbit-hole-hardly-looked-at-twitter obsessed. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @yashar: People are retweeting his first tweet as if it’s real and meanwhile he says “it’s plausible.” https://t.co/mb9xm5pmtw — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@mtpsnyder Stop. In my day, we just had the local fresas en DF. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @mirjordan: Looking for America: Migrant Families Are Giving Greyhound a Big Boost. Paying Top Dollar for a Bumpy Ride. https://t.co/aF… — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@mtpsnyder No! Not DF. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

The city is so pleasant. Holiday weekends are like a douchebag filter in NYC. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @jenniferweiner: “Yet his love of fine objects does not preclude a robust life of the mind. He has many leather-bound and paperback book… — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@anniekarni No match for a Japanese toilet. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@dmrider YES. I learned that the hard way. — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

White House press in Tokyo, here’s my list of favorite spots, if you can escape the scrum... https://t.co/4d2NKS1sEN — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @Nataliekitro: My favorite detail in this story is that the President suggested putting French doors into the border wall https://t.co/1… — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @moorehn: The Krassensteins and their bot network attacked me and four other female journalists last year, including @amychozick. I had… — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@RBPundit I've missed you in my mentions (smile). — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

Remind me again why we say women are not electable when a woman is the only one really taking on Trump right now? https://t.co/fuCRcrg5xD — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

RT @yashar: Here’s the lede and first graf for people who are up against a paywall https://t.co/fsstk5BncL — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@dionnesearcey @joepompeo Cannot wait for this one! — PolitiTweet.org

Amy Chozick @amychozick

@mikiebarb @davidenrich Nice use of chutzpah and the infamous @Nataliekitro eyebrow raise. — PolitiTweet.org