The so-called ‘Sith lord’ of the art world has launched a bid for the Senate as a Republican – citing his disillusionment with the ‘hypocrisy of the left.’
Stefan Simchowitz, who built a fortune thanks to his unorthodox ways of dealing art – is running for Dianne Feinstein’s California seat, which has voted Democrat for the last 32 years.
The Los Angeles resident, 53, is known for his controversial strategy of reaching out to struggling artists directly and buying their work before selling it to collectors, with many accusing him of taking advantage of young creators.
Simchowitz – a self-described ‘centrist, progressive, on-the-edge-to-Democrat Republican’ – told The Free Press he is running because progressive policies have left cities overrun with crime, drug addiction and homelessness while taxes and housing prices keep going up.
‘Why am I running as a Republican? Because I’ve seen up close the hypocrisy of the left and it’s unfathomable. I really dislike it. It’s one of my core pet peeves,’ the ex-Democrat said.
Stefan Simchowitz, who built a fortune thanks to his unorthodox ways of dealing art – is running for a Dianne Feinstein’s California senate seat
Simchowitz – a self-described ‘centrist, progressive, on-the-edge-to-Democrat Republican’ – said s he is running because progressive policies have left cities like LA overrun with crime
Simchowitz, who is Jewish, said the final push for his senate run came after the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel
‘We need a centralized, entrepreneurial government that makes hardcore leadership decisions that are maybe socially unpopular, like rounding up 150,000 homeless people in California and putting them in MASH camps run by the military.’
Simchowitz said he recently pulled his 14-year-old son out of an LA private school because of the DEI bureaucracy and social justice politics.
‘He wasn’t learning anything. Every day was a social justice course,’ the candidate said.
‘The entire lens of the world for the young is through this morality: rich, poor, colonizer, colonized,’ he added.
However, Simchowitz, who calls his worldview the New Republican Agenda, still mostly liberal in his politics – he is pro choice, pro drug-legalization, and for free health care and canceling student debt, he told The Free Press.
Simchowitz, who is Jewish, said the final push for his senate run came after the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, when, according to him, antisemitism became more palpable.
But he knows he’s not going to win the seat, and told The Free Press he plans on starting a PAC called Simco for America to support young candidates that align with his politics.
‘Sometimes if you know you’re going to lose you can only win,’ he said.
California’s senate primaries are on Tuesday, with California rep. Adam Schiff leading the pack of candidates.
Simchowitz started collecting unique stamps as a hobby when he was a kid in South Africa.
Simchowitz said he recently pulled his 14-year-old son out of an LA private school because of the DEI bureaucracy and social justice politics
Simchowitz is known for reaching out to unknown artists directly on Facebook and Instagram, and offering to buy their work before then selling it on to other collectors. He is seen with actor Sam Trammell
He’s known for reaching out to unknown artists directly on Facebook and Instagram, and offering to buy their work before then selling it on to other collectors.
The subsequent buyers then flip the artwork at auction for big profits, meaning that new, upcoming artists’ works are sold for unsustainably high prices in the market, causing ‘career flameouts.’
Art critic Jerry Saltz once described Simchowitz as a sith lord – after he said that ‘any attempt to further control the system in opposition to me will asphyxiate them and asphyxiate the artist.’
Some of the earliest works Simchowitz bought, after perusing around Manhattan’s SoHo galleries while working as a movie producer in New York, included art from Tauba Auerbach and Sterling Ruby.
Auerbach’s pieces have fetched a cool $2.285milion in previous years, while Ruby’s work has sold for $1.78million at auction in the past.
Simchowitz’ aim, however, is to find budding masterpieces when they’re still cheaper than $5,000.
He also started financing artists and helping them produce work that he bought and sold – like Jonathan Monk’s rabbit sculptures ‘The Inflated Deflated,’ and Petra Cortright and Lily Ramírez’s eye-catching colorful pieces.
Cortright – whose collaborative art life with Simchowitz started in 2011 when he messaged her on Facebook. Her bright works often go for as much as $65,000.
Simchowitz has multiple 11,000-square-foot warehouses in Los Angeles where he stores his immense collection – which contains over 25,000 pieces of art
Simchowitz has multiple 11,000-square-foot warehouses in Los Angeles where he stores his immense collection – which contains over 25,000 pieces of art. He opened up his first gallery in California in 2021.
Speaking to WSJ, Simchowitz said: ‘I’m one of the bad guys who ends up good. Maybe I started out as a devil, but it’s better to do that and end up an angel than the other way around, right?’
Despite the good he does for up and coming artists, there are traditional people within the art world that refuse to work with him, and deny that he is a tastemaker in his own right.
Dealer Tim Blum said he won’t sell him anything – and believes that it’s ‘creepy’ that Simchowitz finances young artists.
‘Thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach,’ he said.
