The New York State Appellate Court ruling green lights Andrew Lloyd Webber's $29.1 million Pablo Picasso Painting purchased by his Charitable Foundation at a 1995 Sotheby's Auction.
Originally estimated at $40-$60 million, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber withdrew his important Blue Period Pablo Picasso Painting from a 2006 Christie's Auction, less than 24 hours before it was scheduled for sale at public auction.
In 2006, Alfred Lloyd Webber was on the verge of auctioning Pablo Picasso's The Absinthe Drinker, 1903, at Christie's.
The Composer decided to withdraw the famous Picasso Painting after he "was sued by a German historian named Julius Schoeps, who said he was a grandnephew and heir to a onetime owner of the painting, Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
Schoeps, a descendant of the famous composer, Felix Mendelssohn, "claimed that because his great-uncle sold The Absinthe Drinker under economic duress brought on by the Nazi regime, the painting properly belonged to him. The auction was called off, and the court battle over the Picasso painting began."
The NY State Appellate Court agreed with the previous court ruling allowing the Composer to finally sell his Painting.
In an 11-page decision, "the first department appellate division unanimously concluded Schoeps does not have standing to bring a claim for the painting."
"Under New York law, the appellate division opinion says, Schoeps would have had to show that he had been appointed the personal representative of his great-uncle's estate."
Thanks to the favorable Court ruling, handled by the legal firm of Paul Weiss, Webber's Foundation will benefit from a $50 to $75 million donation, dependent upon its eventual success at public auction.
Seed Newsvine
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