Dealer wins £12,500 payout from auction house over painting

An art dealer has made a 1,000 per cent profit on an aristocrat's painting after winning a legal battle with the auction house that sold it to him.

The painting at the centre of the case.

Ian Ingram, 72, has won £12,500 compensation for the 18th century Old Master, which turned out to have been taken from an aristocrat’s collection.

Mr Ingram claimed the painting – for which he paid £1,100 – was by Transylvanian Saxon artist Tobias Stranover and was worth £25,000.

He sued Iain Smith Auctioneers & Valuers for the £23,632 profit he believes he lost out on when the police took the painting away to return to its unwitting owner, Lady Lingard.

Perth Sheriff Court has now been told the auction house has agreed to pay Mr Ingram £12,500, and that the man who put it into auction will pay them the same amount.

In a further twist, the court has been told Mr Ingram did not share an independent valuation during the court battle which showed the true worth of the painting as just £10,000.

Although the parties have settled the main action over Stranover’s Still Life – Fruit and Parrot, they are now locked in a battle over who should pay the costs of the court case.

Counsel Lawrence Kennedy, for the auction house, said: “[Withholding the valuation] was done consciously to prevent the other party having access to the painting. He deliberately and strategically withheld that from the other parties.

“We know why now – because they were claiming £25,000 for a painting that was only worth £10,000.”

Dealer and author Mr Ingram spent £1,100 on the 18th century oil painting during a sale at an auction room in Scone, Perthshire, eight years ago. But his plan to sell the painting on for a huge profit was scuppered when police officers turned up at his door to inform him the painting had been stolen.

Mr Ingram, from Perth, said: “I buy regularly from auction. And there, in front of the rostrum, was this painting – it did not seem like something you usually see.

“I arranged to bid for it on the phone and, realising its worth, I kept it. I really loved the picture.”

The court was told that the painting – owned by and since returned to Lady Lingard – was entered into an auction at Perth Aerodrome in April 2010 and purchased by Mr Ingram. With buyer’s premium and VAT, he paid a total of £1,358.

Mr Ingram’s court action stated: “The painting had been put up for sale by Brian Kerr. The auctioneer acted as his agent in the course of the sale.

“Mr Ingram was unaware of the identity of the seller of the painting until several years after the sale.” The auctioneer, did not know that Mr Kerr did not own the painting.

The action continued: “Police suspected Mr Kerr had stolen the painting. Police took possession of the painting for use as evidence in a criminal prosecution against Mr Kerr.”

Eventually the criminal case against Mr Kerr, from Perth, was dropped and the painting was returned to Lady Lingard.

Sheriff William Wood said he would make his decision on who should bear the costs of the legal action at a later date.