Secrecy, Leverage, and Power: The Art World’s Economy of Truth

Orlando Whitfield | Literary Hub | 15th August 2025

The art market thinks of itself as a refined l place, but is described by one writer as “commerce dressed up as culture”. Inigo Philbrick, a young art dealer jailed in 2022 for fraud, personified this characterisation. The linked piece, a description of how Philbrick and his offsider engineered the sale of a Paula Rego painting, fits firmly in the category of a ripping yarn. Philbrick is now out of prison, has participated in a BBC documentary and plans to return to art, saying “I was a great art dealer.”