1959 catalogue proves paintings were gifts, gallery lawyer says
Last Updated: Thursday, October 5, 2006 | 10:37 AM AT
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A lawyer for the Beaverbrook Art Gallery says a dispute over who owns a group of paintings shows how badly historical ties between the people of New Brunswick and Lord Beaverbrook's descendants have broken down.
On Tuesday, retired Supreme Court justice Peter Cory began hearing evidence in the dispute over ownership of 133 paintings valued at more than $100 million.
The fight is between the publicly owned gallery and the British-based Beaverbrook foundation, which represents the interests of Lord Beaverbrook's grandson, Maxwell Aitken.
On Wednesday, gallery lawyer Larry Lowenstein turned back the clock to the late 1950s, when the Miramichi-raised Lord Beaverbrook prepared to open the gallery.
Beaverbrook, also known as Max Aitken, made a fortune in the newspaper business in Britain and opened the gallery as a way to give something back to the province that raised him.
Lord 'a control freak': lawyer
Lowenstein spent several hours with the first catalogue of the gallery's collection, published in 1959.
He pointed out not one of the paintings in dispute is identified in the catalogue as being on loan. A foreword to the catalogue says the gallery and its endowment is a gift to the people of New Brunswick.
Lowenstein says Lord Beaverbrook was "a control freak" who had "an obsession with detail."
He read letters from the press baron in which he made suggestions about the editing, layout and design of the catalogue, indicating that if Beaverbrook had wanted the paintings to be considered on loan, the catalogue would have reflected that.
Lowenstein pointed out that Beaverbrook's descendants may see the family's connection to New Brunswick as little more than a "historical quirk," but he argued that doesn't reflect the press lord's wishes.
He said the irony is it falls to the gallery to be the "true custodian of the Beaverbrook legacy."
The foundation that is also claiming ownership of the paintings is expected to begin making its case next week.
The paintings are worth millions of dollars, and include important works by British landscape artist J.M.W. Turner and by Lucian Freud, grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
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