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Saturday, 17 January 2015
Caravaggio Case Lost In Court
The prior owner of a disputed Caravaggio has lost his battle for compensation from an auction house.
Lancelot William Thwaytes
vended The Cardsharps at Sotheby's in 2006 for £46,000 after being told it was by a
follower
of the Old Master.
The new owner consequently insured the painting for millions - after a close friend, an art expert, claimed it was in fact an original Caravaggio.
Sotheby's conserves the painting is not by the artist.
Mr Thwaytes endeavored to sue
Sotheby's
of London, for giving him negligent advice after the new owner had the artwork valued at £10m.
Lawyers for
Mr Thwaytes
respondent Sotheby's of not consulting enough
top experts
or sufficiently testing the painting before the 2006 sale.
But the judge at London's High Court governed the auction house had reasonably come to the view that the quality of the painting "was not sufficiently high to indicate that it might be by Caravaggio".
Birthday party
Sotheby's fortified its claim by saying that a number of leading experts have attested to it not being by the artist.
It was also the undisputed opinion of specialists in the auction house's own Old Masters painting department that it was an anonymous copy.
Mr Thwaytes congenital the painting in the
1960s
from a cousin, and when he came to sell it Sotheby's catalogued it as by a "follower" of Caravaggio.
The painting was take on board at auction by Mrs Orietta Adam, a friend of art collector Sir Denis Mahon, on whose
behalf
she is understood to have bought the painting.
Sir Denis had it cleaned and restored, and a year later - at his 97th birthday party - he declared that the painting was by Caravaggio and dated back to
1595
. Italian researcher Mina Gregori harmonized with his opinion.
The painting was lent to the Museum of the Order of St John at Clerkenwell in London following the death of Sir Denis in 2011, and is insured for £10m.
The original artwork was painted in 1594 and is on show in a museum in Texas. It was a key work in founding Caravaggio's reputation, & was extensively copied.
Mr Thwaytes's legal team said it was bearing in mind an appeal.
"Mr Thwaytes is extremely
dissatisfied
with the decision delivered this morning and maintains that Sotheby's failed to spot the painting's potential," it said in a statement.
"He brought the case following the public announcementthat the painting was an autograph replica painted by the hand of Caravaggio; aview which was supported by a number of leading specialists, counting MinaGregori and Sir Denis Mahon."
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