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Three work by the Seventeenth-century painter Peter Lely, which belonged to the bankrupt British playboy James Stunt, got here up for public sale at Christie’s New York on twenty third Could; two failed to search out consumers, however the third did promote, albeit at a modest worth.
“Earlier than being offered to Stunt, the works had been on the British market and identified to London galleries, so New York was most likely a brisker place to supply them,” says the Outdated Grasp supplier Theo Johns, who offered one of many works to Stunt in 2009.
Stunt, 42, infamous for his playing and big-spending way of life, was previously married to former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Petra. In addition to being a bullion supplier he was a outstanding collector of British portraiture, notably by Lely and Anthony van Dyck. He amassed a big variety of Lely work and lent some to an exhibition of early Lelys on the Courtauld Institute in 2012.
Stunt was divorced from Petra Ecclestone in 2017; in the identical 12 months he lent 17 work to Dumfries Home in Scotland, now owned by King Charles III’s charitable basis. In line with the Each day Mail, 4 of the works had been counterfeits, painted by a convicted artwork forger, and Stunt tried to borrow thousands and thousands of kilos towards them. A movie, The Royal Stunt, investigated and produced by Giampiero Ambrosi, is because of be launched on the finish of this 12 months; The Artwork Newspaper additionally questioned the authenticity of plenty of work by Van Dyck owned by Stunt.
Stunt was declared bankrupt in 2019 with money owed of £14m; in keeping with court docket paperwork, amongst these was one to Christie’s for a Picasso value £3.6m.
At Christie’s 106-lot Outdated Grasp sale in Could, Stunt was not recognized within the provenance of the Lelys; all three had been labelled “Property of a Non-public Collector” with an emblem exhibiting that Christie’s had a monetary curiosity in every. Requested for extra details about the seller and the agency’s monetary curiosity, Christie’s mentioned it was “unable to touch upon confidential shopper issues”.
“In contrast to a lot of James Stunt’s artwork, the Lelys from Christie’s current sale seem like real and by the hand of the artist. Stunt in reality had a superb Lely assortment. I do discover it attention-grabbing that Christie’s didn’t share Stunt’s position of their provenance, although I can perceive why they won’t just like the affiliation,” Ambrosi says.
One may conclude that Christie’s was promoting the works in an try to recuperate a few of the cash it was owed. Delivery information courting from 2018 present that two of the work had been despatched to London from Los Angeles, the place Stunt as soon as had a house.
The three works which had been supplied in New York had been: Portrait of Sir Robert Worsley (undated, est $40,000-$60,000); Portrait of Girl Sybil Wryley (round 1650, est $12,000-$18,000) and Portrait of a Girl, (round 1670), considered Mary Moll Davis, est. $50,000-$80,000). The primary two determine in a register of property established by Stunt’s head of safety and got as situated at Christie’s; the third doesn’t seem within the register. Theo Johns tells The Artwork Newspaper that he had offered the Worsley portrait to Stunt for £55,000 in 2009.
The one work to promote at Christie’s public sale was the Wryley portrait, which made $30,240 (with charges), going to a bidder within the room; it was valued at £60,000 in 2017 when the register was compiled.
Stunt was accused of cash laundering and forgery after an investigation by West Yorkshire police. He was cleared of forgery in 2022 however faces a retrial over the accusation of money-laundering in September this 12 months.
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