A DISPUTE over ownership of the €125,000 proceeds of the sale of a Paul Henry painting - involving former Hollywood actress Dana Wynter, her son, two leading fine art dealers and a Donegal businessman - has come before the High Court.
The painting, Evening on Achill Sound, now believed to be in Northern Ireland, was on display in the 1990s in the Wicklow home of Ms Wynter - star of Invasion of the Body Snatchers(1956) - and her son Mark Bautzer, an art dealer.
Mr Bautzer claims he bought the painting as a gift for his mother in 1996 and that it was put on display at their Irish home, "Glenmacnass", Laragh East, Glendalough. Ms Wynter, a widow, said she and her son spent time in the US as well as Ireland each year and that the Wicklow house was looked after by a caretaker.
However, in June 1999, businessman Eamon Gallagher of Killybegs, Donegal, claims that he paid €76,000 to Jorgensen Fine Art Ltd, Molesworth Street, Dublin, for the painting. Five years later, in May 2004, Mr Gallagher says he asked James Adam and Son Ltd, Stephen's Green, Dublin, to sell it for him and it was sold for €125,000 to a Northern Irish buyer.
After Ms Wynter and Mr Bautzer learned of the 2004 sale, they initiated High Court proceedings against James Adam claiming the dealers had wrongfully or negligently sold it.
Mr Gallagher lodged a separate action seeking the release of the proceeds of the sale which James Adam had frozen because of the dispute. He also sued Jorgensens, alleging they had failed to carry out checks to ascertain the provenance of the painting and for breach of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980.
The Jorgensen and Adam art dealerships have denied the claims and have argued they were effectively the "piggy in the middle" in relation to the painting.
Yesterday Ms Justice Mary Laffoy was told the painting remained out of the jurisdiction and that, as there were now a number of proceedings lodged in relation to it, the court would have to decide which should be heard first.
Alexander Owens SC, for James Adam, said a claim by Ms Wynter and her son against his client for damages for conversion of the painting had been abandoned and the only matter outstanding was to whom the €125,000 should be paid.
Counsel said James Adam held that money paid by the Northern buyer in 2004 and the issue to be decided by the court was ownership of that money. Whatever claim Mr Gallagher had against Jorgensen Fine Art under sale of goods law and against James Adam for alleged damages were matters that could be dealt with separately, Mr Owens said.
"We want out and we are suggesting the money [€125,000] be paid into court," Mr Owens said.
Richard Lyons SC, for Mr Gallagher, said he would prefer if all parties to the case were linked and the cases be heard together. Mr Gallagher was the innocent party in all this as he had bought the painting in good faith from Jorgensen, counsel said.
Ms Justice Laffoy said that, as it was agreed the painting was "gone", the issue of ownership of the €125,000 had to be first determined and this had to be done on oral evidence from the parties involved. The judge said the Adam dealership could interplead in the claim by Ms Wynter and Mr Bautzer, and Mr Gallagher would be joined as a defendant. All other proceedings would be stayed pending the outcome of the trial of the ownership issue.
She also ordered that the €125,000 be paid into court pending the determination of the proceedings and adjourned the matter to the next law term.