Qataris Continue to Press Gagosian in NY Courts

The New York Times reports there’s been an additional complaint filed by the Qataris against Gagosian in New York. What isn’t clear from the newspaper’s description is what is new in this filing. It was previously revealed that the invoice to Gagosian included the provision for title to pass before the final payment.

The second paragraph tells of a single page invoice from Diana Widmaier-Picasso to Gagosian for her services in the transaction uncovered through discovery by Pelham in the first case:

In a legal action filed late on Friday night in federal court in Manhattan, the Qatari family’s agent, Pelham Holdings, outlined the chronology of the second, $106 million sale to Mr. Gagosian in May 2015, a month after the first sale was abruptly canceled. According to the Pelham complaint, the Picasso family was in such a hurry to carry out the second sale to Mr. Gagosian that it made the transfer of the title to the sculpture to him before he made a final payment. In turn, Mr. Gagosian sold the sculpture to Leon Black, a New York art collector, in a deal that would have allowed Mr. Black to take possession before that payment was fully made.

Over the course of the transaction, according to the Pelham complaint, Maya Widmaier-Picasso’s daughter, Diana, received a lucrative commission from Mr. Gagosian for acting as an intermediary on the second sale, which was based on a one-page invoice.

Custody Battle Over Picasso Bust Intensifies (The New York Times)