COLUMN-Lawsuit over a Renaissance masterpiece turns on allegations of chauffeur's theft — and an age-old legal question

By Jenna Greene

March 26 (Reuters) - A legal battle unfolding in New York combines an Old Master painting, a modern family drama, and the common law rule that a thief can’t pass good title.

The artwork in question is a 15th-century Fra Angelico masterpiece. The family are heirs to the Bic pen fortune. And the alleged thief? A former chauffeur, whom the Bichs say acquired the painting 20 years ago under questionable circumstances.

Three grandsons of the man who co-founded the Bic company in 1944 in France sued the painting’s current owners in New York state court last week seeking the artwork’s return. (Hat tip to my Reuters colleague Mike Scarcella for spotting the under-the-radar complaint.)

The defendants, a Chilean businessman and his wife, say they bought the painting legitimately in 2018 from auctioneer Christie's, which isn't a party to the litigation.

Brothers Gonzalve, Charles and Guillaume Bich are also suing the estate of now-deceased art dealer Richard Feigen, seeking disgorgement of proceeds from the sale of the tempera-on-panel painting titled “Saint Sixtus” by early Renaissance artist Fra Angelico, plus damages. Feigen's lawyers say the claims are time-barred — but more on that later.

The saga began in 2006, when Feigen allegedly bought the painting from the Bich family’s then-chauffeur Roy Morrow for the “fire-sale” price of $3 million, according to the complaint filed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Luke Nikas.

A veteran art litigator who has handled high-stakes disputes involving works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, Nikas declined comment, referring me instead to the complaint.

According to the lawsuit, Morrow provided no proof of ownership or provenance when he sold Feigen the painting, nor did he offer a "verifiable" explanation of how he — a chauffeur with no wealth or history of collecting art — legally acquired the 500-year-old masterpiece.

Lawyers from Akabas & Sproule representing Feigen's estate and art dealership in a statement said Morrow attested to his ownership of the work in a signed bill of sale.

Morrow died in 2020.

Immediately after buying the painting, Feigen allegedly insured it for $8.5 million, a sign that the dealer “understood exactly how far below market value” he’d paid, Nikas wrote. “Feigen should have known the price made no sense. Feigen should have known Morrow could not possibly be the rightful owner.”

Feigen later allegedly consigned the painting to Christie’s, which sold it for $5.4 million to Alvaro Saieh and his wife Ana Guzmán, who own it today.

A spokesperson for the Saiehs in a statement said they relied on “the studies made by one of the world’s leading auction houses” in acquiring the Fra Angelico and will “take all necessary steps to vigorously protect” their rights.

Christie’s declined comment.

Exactly how the chauffeur came to possess the Fra Angelico remains unclear, though it seems the alleged theft from the Bich's Fifth Avenue apartment was not of the cinematic, cat-burglar variety.

Prior litigation involving a postnuptial agreement between the brothers’ parents offers more context.

Patriarch Bruno Bich said in an affidavit shortly before his death in 2021 that his then-wife Veronique Bich “gave” the Fra Angelico — which he said he'd inherited from his father and was not common marital property — to the chauffeur years ago without his permission and that she refused to return it when asked. Per the affidavit, Veronique Bich and Morrow co-owned a house in Connecticut.

Veronique Bich, who is not named in the current suit, testified that Morrow took the painting for "safekeeping" when the family moved apartments in 2007, according to a court filing in 2024 by her lawyer Michael Bowen, who did not respond to a request for comment.

The statute of limitations is likely to be a key issue in deciding the case.

The Court of Appeals of the State of New York in a 1991 decision held that when an artwork is stolen, the window for its rightful owners to sue a good faith purchaser for its return doesn’t begin at the time of the theft. Instead, the clock starts ticking when the demand for the work’s return is made and refused. The Bich brothers asked the Saiehs to give back the painting in late 2024.

But lawyers for Feigen's estate say it's too late for the heirs to pursue a claim that their father slept on. "If Mr. Bich’s intention was not to release the work to Veronique or Morrow permanently, he was bound by law to bring suit" against either or both in timely fashion — 2013 at the latest — to recover the painting, they wrote. "He never did so."