An art dealer couple have been awarded £7 million after they were stiffed in a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that saw a Gauguin portrait sold to the Qatari royal family for £152million.
Simon de Pury and his wife Michaela were finally awarded their commission from Ruedi Staechelin, known as ‘the Mick Jagger of art auctions’, by the High Court.
Mr de Pury, 66, had made the gentleman’s agreement with Mr Staechelin, son of the original Swiss buyer, that he would be handed the hefty commission once the painting was sold.
The High Court ruled that Simon de Pury and his wife Michaela should receive a £7.2 million commission for arranging the sale of his painting by impressionist French artist Paul Gauguin, When Will You Marry, to the Qatari Royal Family for some £152 million
Simon de Pury, pictured with his wife Michaela have been awarded £7.2m commission by the High Court in London for arranging the sale of the painting to the Qatari Royal family
Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani , pictured, and his family agreed to pay $210m for the painting which will be exhibited at a new gallery in the Gulf state
But Mr Staechelin contested the claim and argued that Mr de Pury, a former chariman of Sotheby’s Europe, forfeited his right to a commission, if he ever had one, over alleged deceptions about possible higher offers for the painting.
Mr de Pury’s lawyers told the High Court that the pair reached a ‘gentlemanly’ agreement over the commission after he put Mr Staechelin in touch with Guy Bennett, who handles the Qatari’s art interests.
When Will You Marry?, a portrait by Gauguin, was sold after two years of negotiations to be displayed at a new gallery in Qatar.
It was the second most expensive painting in the world to be sold at that time.
On Tuesday the de Pury couple were awarded $10 million – approximately £7.2m – in commission from their work by Mr Justice Morgan following a High Court case.
In his judgement Mr Justice Morgan said: ‘There was clearly a consensus that if the sale went through, Mr De Pury would receive $10 million,’ and ordered the trust to pay the couple.
The painting, pictured, was owned by Swiss businessman and art collector Rudolf Staechelin, right, who did not want to pay the £7.2million commission to his former friend
The High Court in London ruled Mr de Pury and his wife were entitled to the commission
Mr De Pury, who was advised by the London lawyers Grosvenor Law, said after the judgment that he was delighted that ‘justice has prevailed’.
‘It is regrettable that for the first time in over 45 years in the art market I was forced to issue legal proceedings,’ he said.
‘Michaela and I had to wait for more than three years for our role in this transaction to be recognised. We both greatly look forward to our continued activities in the art world.’
The Gauguin masterpiece was sold to the Emir of Qatar by the family trust of Rudolf Staechelin-Finkbeiner, a renowned Swiss collector who bought the painting for 18,000 Swiss francs in 1917.
Mr de Pury left Sotheby’s in 1997 and founded his own art consultancy which later merged with Phillips auction house.
Mrs De Pury, 47, who has a PhD in medieval and renaissance art, had been a senior partner at Phillips de Pury.
The couple married in 2009 and later moved into a £12 million home whose walls are lined with valuable art.
In his judgement, Mr Justice Morgan said it was clear that Mr de Pury and Mr Staechelin are no longer friends despite attending school together.
He said: ‘In July 2014 Mr Staechelin believed, wrongly, that Mr de Pury had told him a lie about the negotiations for the sale.
‘Mr Staechelin then decided that neither he nor the trustees would pay any commission to Mr and Mrs de Pury.
‘This claim for commission was then brought and it has been strenuously defended.’