Halsey Minor Sues Christies

Brian McNeill of The Charlottesville Daily Progress is reporting that Halsey Minor is now suing Christie's for failure to return artwork in a timely manner. Minor is also suing Sotheby's, read the AW Blog post on the suit by clicking HERE.

The suit against Christie's is interesting to appraisers on several fronts. According to the Minor suit against Christie's, by failing to return the 7 Richard Price paintings with an estimated value of $25 million in a timely manner combined with the economic decline and fall in art prices, Mr. Minor was hindered in his ability to sell in a timely manner and harmed by the subsequent decrease in value. Mr Minor was considering a sale of the artwork and delivered the property to Christie's in May.

Mr Minor is also alleged to owe Christie's $10 million, and when he decided not to sell and asked for the return of the paintings, Christie's delayed the return of the Price artwork until November. If you have been reading the AW Blog, you are aware of the decline in value in many fine and derivative art categories. In this case, from an appraisal perspective, in order to gauge the potential loss, value would have to be determined for May and then again for November. Again, only a few short months in between, showing the potential lack of balance and consistency in the declining art market.

McNeill states The lawsuit, first reported by Reuters, says that Christie’s was holding the paintings for Minor for a possible consignment sale, but refused to return them when he requested them back, beginning in May and ending in November.

“Christie’s offered a series of shifting excuses and conditions that it demanded be satisfied before the artworks would be returned,” it said. “Only after Minor threatened legal action did Christie’s drop these spurious excuses and conditions, and unconditionally return the artworks. But by then the damage was done. During the intervening months in which Christie’s had refused their return, the artworks fell precipitously in value.”

The lawsuit accuses Christie’s of breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, among other allegations.

In response, a Christie’s Inc. spokeswoman disputed the lawsuit claims in a statement Friday afternoon. The New York-based company, she said, intends to fight back.

“We believe this lawsuit has no merit and we will defend Christie’s vigorously,” the statement said. “Furthermore, we intend to sue Mr. Minor for the $10 million-plus that he owes Christie’s, as well as related legal fees.”