We helped a man who lost £100,000 after investing in art from Yield Gallery in London recover all of his money.
The 40-year-old from southwest London, who wishes to remain anonymous, thought he had bought two original paintings by Canadian street artist Richard Hambleton from Yield Gallery in spring 2024.
But when he discovered that one of the pieces, Rodeo, had been sold by an art gallery in New York six months afterwards he knew that something was wrong.
He claims he was told by Yield Gallery the other piece, Shadow Head Portrait, was on loan to another art gallery, but this proved not to be the case.
National Fraud Helpline managed to recover all of his money from the investor’s bank, Nationwide, under the fraud reimbursement scheme model.
The investor, who is an IT consultant and web designer, was “delighted and relieved” to get a full refund.
Speaking before the successful refund he said: “I feel a lot of shame about it. I’m not going out, I’m not dating, and I’m putting off living a normal life until this is sorted out.”
He had pleaded with his bank for help himself, but they had initially refused to refund his money which is when he turned to National Fraud Helpline.
The man had transferred a total of £100,000 in nine installments to Yield Gallery between March 8 and May 15, 2024.
Yield Gallery and associated company Artwork Holdings have both since been wound up.
The victim’s ordeal began in late 2023 when, after saving for years, he saw a Yield Gallery advert on Facebook and considered investing in art.
He provided his details and was contacted by Yield Gallery, who told him art investments can significantly outperform the stock market.
It was suggested he buy art by Hambleton, who he said was undervalued in the market.
“He offered me a painting, but I told him I didn’t really know much about art so I backed out a little bit,” he said.
“Things went quiet and I didn’t think much about it, but then he contacted me again in January and offered me something cheaper by an upcoming artist called Fern Young. Her stuff was quite funny, so I bought that for about £7,000 and had it installed in my flat.”
The successful transaction gave him belief that the company was legitimate, as did a visit to the company’s Blackheath gallery where he viewed art by Hambleton.
“I saw there were lots of paintings, and the basement was full of Hambletons, and I thought ‘this is quite the operation here’,” he added.
He agreed to pay £55,000 in March 2024 for Shadow Head Portrait, which would be held in storage and then placed on display in a different gallery.
Two months later, he was persuaded to pay a further £45,000 for Rodeo, which would also be held in storage.
But when Yield Gallery went into liquidation, alarm bells started ringing. And when he saw an image of Rodeo online in the Isabel Sullivan Gallery in New York in October 2025, he decided to contact her.
“I spoke to Isabel, and she confirmed she was in possession of that painting and had sold it in December 2024 for $28,000,” he said. “I’d been told Rodeo was in a storage facility in Birmingham.
“I then had a phone call with Jon Sullivan, who said he knew about both of my pieces, and they were both in storage. He was offering to keep them in storage and help with the sale down the line.”
The official liquidator subsequently told him they could not locate any storage facilities operated by Yield Gallery.
Have you lost money via Yield Gallery or an art investment scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.
