NEW YORK COURT EXEMPTS CHRISTIE’S FROM PAYING FOR DAMAGES TO ART DURING HURRICANE SANDY
A New York state court ruled on January 21 that Christie’s art storage division will not have to pay more than $11.5 million for art damaged by flooding at its Brooklyn facility during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, according to a report by Laura Gilbert in the Art Newspaper.
The ruling addresses two lawsuits brought by insurance companies to recoup costs paid or owed to their clients. AXA Art Insurance sought $1.5m in damages to a collection owned by the Jacqueline Piatigorsky Revocable Trust in one suit, while in the other, StarNet Insurance sought more than $10m for damage to art by Leroy Neiman as owned by the artist’s estate, foundation, and corporation.
The court declared that in their contracts with Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services, the Piatigorsky trust and the Neiman organizations had waived their insurers’ right to sue. The trust will appeal, according to court papers, but the Neiman entities have not yet decided if they also plan to appeal.
