'Fake heiress' Anna Sorokin sells artwork of herself in designer clothes raking in $340K while in house arrest
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: Fake German heiress Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, found guilty of larceny and theft, continues to wear an ankle bracelet but has managed to earn $340,000 from the sale of her artwork. Delvey charges $25,000 for original works and $250 for prints, and sources claim that a large group of fans from around the world, including Chloe Fineman of 'Saturday Night Live,' have bought her works.
Since Delvey began her career in May, art dealer Chris Martine has described the interest in her work as "pretty crazy." We've sold prints to 40 to 50 countries. It’s pretty amazing how her audience responds to anything she does," as cited by New York Post.
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The majority of the images in her paintings and illustrations, which were done with jail pens and pencils, feature Delvey herself, slinking around in high-end clothing like Chanel and Prada while gaining recognition.
One piece mocks the front page of the New York Times by changing the Gothic masthead to 'The Delvey Crimes.' Martine, the co-founder of the New York-based Founders Arts Club, claimed that Fineman, who once impersonated Delvey on 'SNL,' purchased a $250 limited edition print of 'Run It Again' — an autographed, 10-by-13-inch piece that depicts the blond fraudster pleading with a figure behind a counter to run her credit card once more following several unsuccessful attempts.
Fineman received a second copy of the print as a "gift," according to Martine. The Founders Art Club estimates that the value of the unframed piece will rise by 280%. Martine claimed that since she appeared virtually at a one-night art exhibit at Nolita's Public Hotel in May, Sorokin, 31, who has been under house arrest in Manhattan since being freed in October, had personally earned in the "six-figure range" as a result of their collaboration. Any artist selling more than $250,000 in prints alone, especially in a weak market, "it's no joke," Martine remarked.“She has a very clear talent, she’s a captivating individual and people resonate with her concepts.”
Tech entrepreneur Casey Grooms of San Francisco spent $15,000 for Sorokin's 'Prowling in Prada,' a 20 by 16-inch acrylic on canvas original that he views as the ideal way to begin his art collection. “It’s the idea, specifically, of buying into the idea of Anna and her life story,” Grooms said to New York Post of what grabbed his attention to her work. “It was kind of like a ticket to advance myself a lot quicker in this space.”
Late in November, "The House (Arrest) Collection," a collection of four original paintings, including the one Groom bought, and four first-edition prints, was released by Sorokin in collaboration with the Brooklyn gallery The Locker Room. The Delvey Danger Zone package, which costs $549 and includes a 15-minute chat with Anna herself, is one of the content tiers available on the Passes platform. A 1-minute "personalized" video is included in the "Delvey Download," which costs $259. Those who want to subscribe can get her "Good Behavior" subscription for $29.99 each month. Sorokin was released in October after serving four years of a four to 12-year sentence for deceiving wealthy associates and hotels into believing she was a German heiress. An immigration judge restricted her access to all social media sites, including Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, as part of her release. Despite the fact that she hasn't shared anything on Instagram since October 1, she still keeps up a profile with 1.1 million followers and promotes a link to her artwork in the bio.