It is no secret there is intended interest in the trial of Guy Wildenstein for what it might tell of the famous family’s art holdings. The New York Times boiled it down to this from the first week of testimony:
The Wildenstein family has long maintained a mystique about its holdings. No one knew what rested in their vaults in New York and Tokyo and in a research institute in the heart of Paris on the Rue la Boétie. During the trial, the tally emerged. In 1998, Daniel Wildenstein created an offshore Delta Trust in the Bahamas to hold almost 2,500 works that he valued at about $1.1 billion before his death. The Royal Bank of Canada managed it to provide funds for the family, selling artworks or making loans against their value.
About 675 works have been sold, raising about $238 million for family members, according to a bank representative, Brian Taylor, who valued the collection today at about $875 million. The remaining works are now divided among the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, he said.
Trial Offers Rare View of Wildenstein Family and Fortune (New York Times)
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