The art world’s so-called “Sith Lord” has launched a Senate bid as a Republican, citing his disillusionment with the “hypocrisy of the left.”
Stefan Simchowitz, who made a fortune through his unorthodox methods of dealing with art, is running for Dianne Feinstein’s seat in California, which has voted Democratic for the past 32 years.
The 53-year-old Los Angeles resident is known for his controversial strategy of approaching struggling artists directly and buying their works before selling them to collectors, with many accusing him of taking advantage of young creators.
Simchowitz – a Republican who describes himself as “centrist, progressive and close to the Democrat” – said The free press He is running because progressive policies have left cities overrun with crime, drug addiction and homelessness, while taxes and housing prices continue to rise.
‘Why am I running as a Republican? Because I have seen the hypocrisy of the left up close and it is unfathomable. I do not really like. “It’s one of my main things that bothers me,” the former Democrat said.
Stefan Simchowitz, who made a fortune through his unorthodox approaches to art, is running for Dianne Feinstein’s California Senate seat.
Simchowitz, a Republican who describes himself as “centrist, progressive and close to the Democrat,” said he is running because progressive policies have left cities like Los Angeles overrun with crime.
Simchowitz, who is Jewish, said the final push for his Senate bid came after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
“We need a centralized corporate government that makes tough leadership decisions that may be socially unpopular, like arresting 150,000 homeless people in California and sending them to military-run MASH camps.”
Simchowitz said he recently pulled his 14-year-old son out of a Los Angeles private school because of DEI bureaucracy and social justice policies.
‘He wasn’t learning anything. Every day was a course in social justice,’ said the candidate.
“The whole world view for young people is seen through this morality: rich, poor, colonizers, colonized,” he added.
Yet Simchowitz, who calls his worldview the New Republican Agenda, remains largely liberal in his politics: he is pro-choice, pro-drug legalization, pro-free health care and cancellation of student debt, he told The Free Press.
Simchowitz, who is Jewish, said the final push for his Senate bid came after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, when, he said, anti-Semitism became more palpable.
But he knows he’s not going to win the seat and told The Free Press he plans to start a PAC called Simco for America to support young candidates who align with his politics.
“Sometimes if you know you’re going to lose, you can only win,” he said.
The California Senate primary is Tuesday, with California Rep. Adam Schiff leads the field of candidates.
Simchowitz began collecting unique stamps as a hobby as a child in South Africa.
Simchowitz said he recently pulled his 14-year-old son out of a Los Angeles private school because of DEI bureaucracy and social justice policies.
Simchowitz is known for reaching out to unknown artists directly on Facebook and Instagram and offering to buy his works before selling them to other collectors. He is seen with actor Sam Trammell.
He is known for reaching out to unknown artists directly on Facebook and Instagram and offering to buy his work before selling it to other collectors.
Subsequent buyers then auction off the artwork for huge profits, meaning that works by new emerging artists are sold at unsustainably high prices in the market, causing “career explosions”.
Art critic Jerry Saltz once described Simchowitz as a sith lord, after saying that “any attempt to further control the system in my opposition will suffocate them and suffocate the artist.”
Some of the first works Simchowitz purchased, after perusing the galleries of Manhattan’s SoHo while working as a film producer in New York, included art by Tauba Auerbach and Sterling Ruby.
Auerbach’s pieces have sold for $2.285 million in previous years, while Ruby’s work has sold for $1.78 million at auctions in the past.
Simchowitz’s goal, however, is to find budding masterpieces while they still cost less than $5,000.
He also began funding artists and helping them produce works that he bought and sold, such as Jonathan Monk’s rabbit sculptures ‘The Inflated Deflated’ and the bold, colorful pieces by Petra Cortright and Lily Ramírez.
Cortright, whose collaborative artistic life with Simchowitz began in 2011 when he messaged her on Facebook. His brilliant works often cost up to $65,000.
Simchowitz has several 11,000-square-foot warehouses in Los Angeles where he stores his immense collection, which contains more than 25,000 works of art.
Simchowitz has several 11,000-square-foot warehouses in Los Angeles where he stores his immense collection, which contains more than 25,000 works of art. He opened his first gallery in California in 2021.
Speaking to the WSJ, Simchowitz said, “I’m one of the bad guys who ends up being good.” Maybe I started out as a demon, but it’s better to do that and end up an angel than the other way around, right?
Despite the good he does for emerging artists, there are traditional people within the art world who refuse to work with him and deny that he is a trendsetter in his own right.
Dealer Tim Blum said he won’t sell anything to him and finds it “creepy” that Simchowitz finances young artists.
“Thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach,” he said.