The Beaverbrook art dispute should be a lesson to galleries that don't keep good records, a Canadian arts lawyer warned on Friday.
The dispute revolves around the collection at Fredericton's Beaverbrook Art Gallery, which was established in 1959 by Lord Beaverbrook — a Canadian newspaper magnate whose name was William Maxwell Aitken.
The arbitration hearing between the art gallery and the family-controlled Beaverbrook Foundation (U.K.) wrapped up its fourth week in Fredericton on Friday.
Both sides claim ownership over 133 paintings at the gallery that have an estimated worth of $100 million. They include J. M. W. Turner's Fountain of Indolence, estimated to be worth as much as $25 million, and Hotel Bedroom by Lucien Freud, which could be worth as much as $8 million.
If the Beaverbrook Foundation wins the case, it could remove all of the paintings from the gallery.
Aaron Milrad, a Toronto-based lawyer who once had to resolve a similar dispute over a Group of Seven painting, said the gallery should have made sure it had records that clearly showed who owned the paintings.
"I feel badly that there is public washing of underwear that really didn't have to happen if property documentation had ever been entered into in the first place," he said.
Milrad said the dispute shows that many smaller art galleries lack the money to get good legal advice on how to avoid conflicts.
'You don't have the professional advice for many institutions that are the smaller ones. There is a real need for education of these not-for-profit boards.'-Aaron Milrad, a lawyer who specializes in art issues
"You don't have the professional advice for many institutions that are the smaller ones," he said. "There is a real need for education of these not-for-profit boards."
The hearings are scheduled to resume Monday.
The gallery is also battling with another Beaverbrook foundation, which is Canadian. Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation has gone to court, claiming ownership of about 40 other paintings at the gallery.
The gallery has argued that Lord Beaverbrook donated his art to be enjoyed by the people of New Brunswick.
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