Art in Dispute at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery

Abstract

AbstractA long-running dispute between the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and its benefactor foundations illustrates the need for documentation of gifts or loans of artwork. At issue in this dispute is ownership of over 200 of the paintings on display at the gallery valued at up to $200 million. None of the parties to the dispute has been able to produce records to establish that the paintings were either a gift or on loan to the Beaverbrook. Instead the parties have had to rely on newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, gallery catalogues, and export documents to substantiate their positions. Central to the dispute has been the role of the First Lord Beaverbrook and whether his actions amounted to a breach of his fiduciary duty to the gallery. This article examines the particulars of the parties' claims as well as the decisions that have been made to date. Final resolution of the dispute is not expected until all appeals have been decided.