en
ol
St
Paintings
I very clearly remember a
seminar at university dealing
with trusts and equity. It was
focussed on tracing which
had nothing to do with paper
and drawing, and everything
to do with stolen goods. It
was part way through a
very complex diagram on
the blackboard (yes, I am
that old) and an explanation
which included several
Latin phrases that I vowed
to myself “whatever I do in
the future, I shall NEVER
EVER deal with such DULL
subjects”. Scroll forward a
decade or two, and sure
enough, I specialise in trusts,
estate equity and all things
related and love it!
A recent court case caught my eye which
brought to life that old dusty board and
chalky seminar room. It almost reads
like the plot of a 1960s heist caper, but is
sadly true.
In 1964 Mathilda Marks (of Marks and
86
Spencer fame) left her estate including a
Gauguin and a Bonnard painting to her
husband, Mr Terence Kennedy. These
were dramatically stolen from him in
1970 when thieves posing as burglar
alarm technicians conned their way into
his home when only the housekeeper
was there and removed them from their
frames while she was making tea.
As extremely valuable hot property, the
paintings were whisked to the continent,
where, surprisingly they were left on
a midnight train from Paris to Turin
and languished unidentified in the lost
property office at Turin station for around
5 years. Nothing is known of what
happened to the hapless courier!
The Italian railway authorities held an
auction of lost property in 1970 and the
paintings were sold for approximately
£20 to an assembly line worker from the
local Fiat factory who thought they would
look nice in his dining room. When he
eventually retired and moved home to
Siracusa, Sicily, he brought the paintings
with him. This time, he hung them in his
kitchen above the same table he had
moved from Turin and his son, who had
developed an i nterest in art, started to
research the pictures. They had been
thought lost until recently when the
present owner decided to sell them.
Here’s where both criminal and equity
law come in. No insurance payment
was ever made, so legal ownership does
not pass to any insurance company.
The heir to Mr Kennedy claims that the
Italian authorities did not do enough
to investigate the pictures when sold,
and that therefore the buyer could not
acquire legal ownership of the pictures
and they should be returned. In civil
law, the purchase was not in good faith,
and in circumstances where it was
reasonable to assume they were stolen,
so the paintings belong to the original
owner, and he can recover them, without
compensating the buyer. They are
presently valued at approximately £25M.
Criminal law says they’re stolen, and
should be recovered.
The Italian authorities claim that the
buyer has the right to retain the pictures
as more than 20 years has elapsed
since he bought them, so even if he
knew, or suspected they were stolen,
he doesn’t have to give them back.
UK law doesn’t have that time limit, so
the question is which law will prevail?
International negotiations have been
started, but at the time of going to press,
we don’t know the outcome.
We don’t usually deal with such high
profile, dramatic matters when advising
our clients, but you can be sure, if you
need us, we have a great team of trust
and international specialists, ready and
willing to help. And we promise not to
use Latin!
By Fiona Dodd