Art dealer told to name buyer of £4m painting
An art collector has won the right to know who bought her £4m painting under the industry's traditional cloak of anonymity following a High Court case.
Linda Hickox sold Calanque de Canoubier (Pointe de Bamer), by French painter Paul Signac in 1896, through British dealer Timothy Sammons in 2013.
However, she claims she never received the payment of $4.85m she was promised by Sammons, who has since been jailed for defrauding clients out of millions of pounds.
Ms Hickox applied to the High Court for Simon Dickinson, a London dealer through whom Sammons brokered the deal, to reveal who bought the painting and where it is now.
She said the painting was "stolen" from her by Sammons and she wants to pursue the buyer for "conversion" - unlawfully taking something they do not own.
The widespread practice in the art world of protecting clients' confidentiality has now been shattered, after the judge ruled that the buyer's identity must be made known.
Emma Ward, the managing director of Dickinson, told the court that it was not customary in the art market to reveal the identity of private buyers, so her firm should not be expected to do so.
But the judge made a rare legal order for the person to be named and Dickinson has complied. The name of the buyer remains unknown to the wider public.
"Here there is a genuine interest in preserving confidentiality as to the location of the painting," said deputy High Court judge Clare Ambrose in her judgement.
"The privacy of the purchaser, and their concern to avoid publicity as to the extent of their wealth and possessions, is a further consideration.
"However, these interests do not outweigh the Claimant's interest in pursuing a good arguable claim, especially where she has a realistic competing claim against that purchaser for ownership."
The judge made a Norwich Pharmacal order, which requires a third party to reveal vital information relevant to wrongdoing. These orders can override any duties of confidentiality which usually apply.
Sammons, a former Sotheby's specialist with offices in the UK and US, brokered multimillion-pound deals for the likes of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2019 he was jailed for up to 12 years for using art that did not belong to him, including Ms Hickox's painting, as collateral to obtain personal loans between 2010 and 2015.
He admitted 15 counts of grand larceny and fraud.
Sammons gained the trust of prospective art sellers then "betrayed that trust by pocketing the proceeds of those sales to fund his own lavish lifestyle", including club memberships and first-class flights, said Cyrus Vance, Manhattan district attorney.
Up to £25m was stolen by Sammons from international clients through the sale of artworks including Picasso’s Buste de Femme and Marc Chagall's Rêverie, the New York State supreme court heard.
“When brokering the sales of high-priced, one-of-a-kind paintings, Timothy Sammons had lying, scamming, and stealing down to a fine art,” said Mr Vance.
Before sentencing, Sammons said: “I have always said how extremely sorry I am for the trauma I caused.” His solicitor said he “looks forward to getting out of jail, re-establishing his name and paying back his customers”.
Sammons had his assets frozen in 2015 when the allegations came to light and his £4m London home was repossessed. He is serving his sentence in a New York state prison.
Ms Hickox was contacted for comment.
Simon C. Dickinson told The Telegraph: "In 2012 Timothy Sammons negotiated the sale of a painting by Paul Signac owned by Ms. Hickox. Simon C. Dickinson Ltd's client purchased the painting and monies were immediately paid in full to Mr Sammons' company. These monies were not it was later established paid by Mr Sammons to Ms Hickox. In 2015 Ms Hickox entered a Judgment against Mr Sammons for the unpaid monies.
"In 2019 Mr Sammons was convicted by the Manhattan District Attorney for defrauding multiple clients and is currently serving a 4-12 year sentence in New York. Simon C. Dickinson Ltd. co- operated fully with the District Attorney, producing documentation which contributed to Mr Sammons’s successful prosecution.
"Following the case against Mr Sammons in NY, Ms. Hickox was unable to obtain any money for the painting from Mr Sammons. She later filed an application for Simon C. Dickinson Ltd. to disclose documents relating to the sale of the painting. Simon C Dickinson Ltd submitted that confidentiality in those documents was justified on the basis that fine art has the twin features of being readily moveable and highly valuable. A key security protection therefore is the confidentiality of the fact of ownership. In October 2020, Simon C. Dickinson Ltd. released confidential documents relating to the identity of their client, the purchaser, following an order of the court to do so. The application was confined to the disclosure of these documents."
