Philip Maestrachchi filed for Helly Nahmad Gallery in court, but her representatives insist that the painting belongs not to her Italian

Amedeo Modigliani
Seated man with a cane
Source: theartnewspaper.com

In November it was reported that a citizen of France, Philippe Maestrachchi (Philippe Maestracci) sued the New York Gallery Helly Nahmad , which did not react to his demand to return him to the canvas Amedeo Modigliani (Amedeo Modigliani)« Seated man with a cane "(1918), which was part of a collection of works of art illegally taken away by the Nazis from his grandfather, Oscar Stettiner (Oscar Stettiner).

Artnewspaper now reports that the lawyers representing the dealer's Nahmada-billionaire David (David Nahmad) and his son Helly, argue that the claim has no Maestrachchi baseless, because the picture does not belong to the gallery, and a completely different organization. lawyers called the owner of a certain institution called the International Center for Visual Arts (International Art Center (IAC)) and on this basis claim that "the plaintiff filed a claim that the defendant did not».

However, a party plaintiff is responsible for this, that "the International Fine Arts Center - is an offshore company, which father and son Nahmady used as a tool to maintain control over the works of art, about 90 percent of which is in store in Geneva, which is a free economic zone. "Lawyers clarify the plaintiff, in Geneva belonging Nahmadam collected works of art for the sum of 3 up to $ 4 billion.

According to Artnet, Nahmady got the job for $ 3.2 million at auction at Christie's in London in June 1996. However, the defense argues that the work was not acquired dealers, and the International Center since 1996, with the help of participating in various exhibitions around the world.

judicial authorities believe that the work was in New York until such time as owners found that provenance has a flaw: the intervention in the fate of the works of the Nazis. After that they moved the painting to Switzerland. However, the lawyer, Richard Golub Nahmadov (Richars Golub) has called such assumptions "absolutely unfair».

In his court statement, Helly Nahmad says that the painting was in a gallery in New York, the only time during the exhibition" Modigliani: Bohemian legend "in November 2005, on which the work was just given the Geneva International Centre for Fine Arts . This organization is also exposed in the painting in 2008 at auction Sotheby's, where the picture is, however, failed to find a buyer.

Nevertheless Maestrachchi lawyers continue to insist that the Centre, Gallery and controlled by the same person - Halley and David Nahmadami. So while the question of who is the rightful owner of the work of Modigliani remains open.

material was prepared by Mary Estrova, AI

Source: artinvestment.ru