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NEW YORK, Nov 9, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Christie's in New York reluctantly pulled a Picasso painting from a record-setting auction after an 11th-hour ownership claim arose.
Christie's said in a news release that they, along with The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, removed Portrait de Angel Fernández de Soto from their menu at Wednesday's auction, which still fetched $493 million in transactions.
Marc Porter, Christie's Americas president, said: "Despite the favorable ruling of the federal court dismissing their claims there, we have been informed by the litigant's attorneys that they intend to file another suit in state court. A cloud of doubt has been recklessly placed on the Portrait de Angel de Soto by the litigant and his attorneys on the very eve of this long-scheduled and highly publicized sale."
The New York Post reported Thursday that the beef centered on allegations that the Nazis had stolen the 1903 Picasso from its rightful German owners in the 1930s. The Post named one of the heirs, Julius Schoeps, as the litigant behind the yanking of the painting.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
