More on the Nuns, Appraiser and Art Dealer

Maine Antique Digest also has an article on the William Adolph Bouguereau religious painting sold to an art dealer and brokered by an appraiser. This is really a very messy situation. It is a very interesting article and I recommend all appraiser read the piece.

MAD reports there was an email sent to the Nuns stating "The word on the street is that the painting you all sold by William Adolph Bouguereau was the subject of a crooked appraisal [sic] job by Mark Lasalle. When he told you it was worth $400,000 to $500,000 he was holding in his hands a Sothebys [sic] appraisal for $1.8 to $2.2 million. He got another dealer (Mark Zaplin) to put up the money to avoid a conflict of interest, and the two just sold the painting through Brian Roughton for over $2 million. Bishop Kelley was right the painting should have been sent to auction, then the nuns wouldn't have been defrauded by the Lasalle/Zaplin combo."

MAD continues Where is the painting today?

Brian Roughton of the Roughton Galleries, Dallas, Texas, owned it in early February. He bought it from Mark Zaplin and is aware of the lawsuit. Roughton said that when he bought it he had to agree not to advertise it then, "because of sensitivity for the original seller's feelings." He has been approached by a major museum about purchasing it.

It has been at the Dallas Museum of Art during the past two years. "They had to take it down because of a major show they were mounting, and rather than have it stored in their basement I had it come here to my home," Roughton said. "It's a very big painting, and I didn't have room in the shop to show it properly. It also is very heavy; it weighs over four hundred pounds.

"I saw photos of it before it was cleaned and thought it was a crapshoot. If it didn't clean up successfully, it was worthless. Luckily, they took it to one of the top men in the country to do the restoration, and now it's beautiful."

About the controversy, Roughton said, "I don't have any problem with Mark Zaplin selling it to me. It was a straight legal purchase, but as for the conduct of the other Mark, Mark LaSalle, if he did in fact go to the nuns as an appraiser and was hired for that, then gave them a bad appraisal in order to get it, then that's unethical behavior for any art dealer to do, and I condemn it."

Attorney Tom Chase, who represents Mark Zaplin, said, "We think the claims against Mark Zaplin are absolutely without merit. He had no part in the events that led up to the purchase. It was a full two years between the discovery of the painting and the time they actually sold it. They could have sought any advice they needed about the value of the painting during that time."

Brian Roughton told M.A.D., "I'm asking $4.8 million for it and don't necessarily want to sell it. My wife asks, 'You just got it back and now want to sell it?' I think it's magnificent and wouldn't mind owning it permanently."

Apparently, that won't happen. According to a February 19 story in the New York Post, the painting has sold for more than $5 million.

To read the MAD article, click HERE.