An arbitration hearing gave volunteers and corporate patrons of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton a reason to smile Monday.

Arbitrator Peter Cory ruled Monday that 85 of 133 paintings at the centre of an ownership dispute belong to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton.
(CBC)

Retired Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory ruled Monday that 85 of the 133 paintings in the ownership dispute were gifts to the gallery by the late Lord Beaverbrook, and will remain in the gallery's hands. The gallery will also be compensated for three other paintings that were taken to England in 1976 and sold the next year.

The Beaverbrook United Kingdom Foundation, a philanthropic group founded by Lord Beaverbrook and run by his grandson, Maxwell Aitken III, has maintained for the past three years that all 133 works of art, estimated to be worth $100 million, were only loaned to the gallery.

"I was elated, personally," said gallery docent Erin Best. "I think for Canadians, you know, it's a happy day, you know those are the people that his gallery holds all these paintings in trust for. I think it's a great decision."

The 85 paintings include many of the most valuable works, such as J.M.W. Turner's The Fountain of Indolence and Lucian Freud's Hotel Bedroom, worth $25 million and $5 million, respectively.

Suzanne Alexander, owner of Fredericton publishing house Goose Lane Editions, said the decision will strengthen the New Brunswick arts community. Goose Lane is a corporate patron of the gallery.

Lucian Freud's Hotel Bedroom, worth $5 million, is among the 85 paintings declared property of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton.

"I think it's very interesting that in fact the most valuable paintings are staying with the gallery," Alexander said. "I think there will be a certain degree of interest and a great deal of pride, if you like, that in fact those paintings remain in Fredericton."

But there's a tinge of sadness for some, like longtime tour guide Joan Meade.

"Well my first reaction, like anyone who loses a friend, is 'Who's leaving?' " Meade said. "Because they're all our friends. You know, you do a tour so often, you become very attached to these paintings and you constantly see new things in them, and I hate to lose anything, and it's not a possession thing. You go visit these because they're favourites of yours."

However, those at the gallery have to defer any sighs of relief, as the foundation fighting for custody of the paintings has already decided to file an appeal of the arbitration.

An appeal will delay resolution of this dispute, and a second legal case against the gallery over 78 other paintings, launched by the foundation's Canadian counterpart, directed by another of Aitken's grandsons, Timothy, has yet to be heard in New Brunswick.