The fate of works by Rubens, sold at Christie's, decided in court
ARTinvestment.RU   05 мая 2020

First, the painting was sold at auction auction house for $5.7 million, but then the previous owner changed his mind to sell it

In the beginning of 2018 collector, billionaire and first President of Facebook Sean Parker purchased for your nonprofit of the Fund The Parker Foundation the work of Rubens in the early XVII century "the Satyr with a basket of grapes and quinces and nymph" paying at the auction of Old Masters Christie's New York nearly $6 million It was a good signing prior to the trade it was expected that the canvas through to its provenance and quality, will be the top-лотом auction. So in the end what happened.

But then the unexpected happened. According to the representative of the auction house, cited Artnews, "the seller of [Debra L. Turner] tried to cancel have made the auction sale, and after repeated attempts to resolve the issue peacefully, this matter was referred to arbitration. The court ruled that Christie's has fulfilled its contractual obligations and the winning bidder legally acquired the painting. Currently Сhristie's trying to confirm the arbitration award in Federal court in the U.S. to finally close this issue: to transmit the picture to the buyer, and the money received from the sale, — the previous owner of the work.

In the petition for confirmation of arbitration award, which was filed in Federal court in Manhattan, Turner argues that canceled the sale of the picture, so the deal should be invalidated. The lawyer of the Fund's Sean Parker in a letter to the court has clarified the position of his client, noting that he “bought the picture, with no information about what the previous owner wanted to make this work with the trades,” as well as “timely and fully paid for the painting in 2018”. The letter States that the Fund intends to "get a picture, which he in good faith has acquired more than two years ago, and use it for charitable purposes"".

while the trial is still not finished, Сhristie's withdrew the description of this work from e-catalogue that lists all sold at the auction lots. If the Federal court confirms the decision of the arbitrator, the lot will probably regain the status of sold and return to the site. But the auction house may have to sort this situation with Debra Turner: the contracts between the seller and the auction house is always a clearly defined "point of no return", but whether the deadlines are met by both parties, the court will find out.

the Material was prepared by Maria Kuznetsova, AI

Source: artnews.com