Owner Sues Timothy Sammons Over Proceeds of Van Gogh Sale

The consignor of a van Gogh at Sotheby’s has not been paid in full by the agents, Timothy Sammons, acting on its behalf. So they’ve sued over the £380,000 proceeds from the sale of Cows in a Meadow (abvoe) which was estimated at £200-300k and sold for £458,500 with Sotheby’s buyer’s commission:

Houston Cummings and the California-based trustee of the Cummings Revocable Trust, of which he is the trustee, claim to have arranged the auction with Upper East Side-based Timothy Sammons Inc. and UK-based Timothy Simmons.

Cummings and the trust emphasize that their agreement included “the commission to be paid and identified plaintiffs as the owner of the painting.”

After the auction, however, “TSI and Sammons became evasive and circumspect,” the complaint states.

“Months later after repeated demands, … TSI and Sammons remitted to plaintiffs £150,000,” the complaint continues.

“Despite repeated requests, neither TSI, Sammons nor Sotheby’s has remitted the amount due to plaintiffs on the sale of the painting.”

Courthouse News Service