A judge has ordered the proceeds of a bond posted to protect Randolph College when it’s 2007 sale of paintings was halted to be distributed bringing an end to the battle, according to the Lynchburg News Advance:
Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge Leyburn Mosby signed an order distributing the $500,000 bond that secured the temporary injunction that barred the sale of the art in late 2007.
The bond is to be divided with $300,000 going to Randolph College. The remaining $200,000 and the interest on the bond is to be returned to the plaintiffs who raised the money in an attempt to stop the sale of four paintings from the museum: George Bellows’ “Men of the Docks,” Edward Hicks’ A “Peaceable Kingdom,” Ernest Hennings’ “Through the Arroyo” and Rufino Tamayo’s “Troubador.”
“While we are pleased with this settlement, it in no way recovers all of the damages incurred by the College as the result of the injunction preventing the sale of the paintings at a high point in the art market,” said college president John E. Klein, in a news release. “It does, however, provide closure.”
The Tamayo painting alone sold for a record-breaking $7.2 million at Christie’s auction in 2008. The remaining three paintings have not yet been sold, said college spokeswoman Brenda Edson. The college is waiting for improvements in the art market before selling those paintings.
The settlement also bars all parties from pursuing any future litigation regarding the sale of the three remaining paintings. The plaintiffs and the group that funded the litigation also agreed not to pursue future litigation against potential buyers of the paintings.
Bond Issue is Settled in Randolph College Art Sale (Lynchburg News Advance)
