Jacob “Jacqui” Safra, a Swiss financier, collector, and scion of the illustrious Syrian Jewish banking household, has launched a authorized salvo in opposition to Christie’s, accusing the public sale home of unhealthy religion and fiduciary breaches in dealing with his multimillion greenback artwork assortment.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Courtroom on January 17, alleges that the home declared Safra in default on a consignment settlement with out due trigger, resulting in suboptimal gross sales, devalued property, and vital monetary and cultural losses. Central to the dispute is a set valued within the grievance at over $100 million, encompassing Previous Grasp work, antiques, and letters by Albert Einstein—an ensemble Safra claims was systematically mishandled.
The deal struck between Christie’s and Safra was for an advance of $63 million in opposition to the longer term gross sales of works from his assortment, Artnet Information reported final week. On the crux of the grievance is Safra’s assertion that Christie’s did not market Safra’s assortment successfully, significantly a set of Einstein’s love letters that the public sale home described as “crucial supply for Einstein’s youth and mental growth.” Bought in December 2024 for £350,000 (about $436,000), the letters fetched far lower than their £1 million ($1.25 million) low estimate, not to mention the $442,500 Safra paid for them in 1996. The grievance lambasts Christie’s for neglecting commonplace promotional efforts, similar to scholar-written catalogues, internet pages, movies, and exhibitions, actions Safra believes to be pivotal to reaching greater costs.
Safra additionally accuses the home of misattributions that drastically slashed the worth of key works. As an illustration, Christie’s allegedly downgraded Mars Disrobing and Venus Surrounded by Nymphs and Putti from a Giuseppe Cades unique to an “imitation,” a transfer Safra claims lacked scholarly justification and slashed its worth by 90 %. Equally, he claims that the image Officer in a Crimson Beret, attributed to Willem Drost, could possibly be a Rembrandt—a valuation he says Christie’s selected to ignore. Excessive-profile works by J.M.W. Turner and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot have been bought for fractions of their estimates, additional undermining confidence within the auctioneer’s dealing with of Safra’s assortment, regardless of many of the tons promoting for round their low estimates.
The lawsuit additionally highlights monetary disputes, together with supposed delays in making use of public sale proceeds to Safra’s account. He alleges that these delays, typically extending as much as 99 days, allowed Christie’s to accrue undue curiosity whereas avoiding compensation thresholds. A separate declare from MGG California over the possession of sure artworks can be contested; Safra maintains the declare, dismissed in court docket, ought to by no means have justified the home declaring him in default.
Christie’s, for its half, insists it fulfilled its contractual obligations. A spokesperson for the public sale home informed ARTnews, “The property was bought in accordance with the settlement with Mr. Safra. As this has now moved to litigation, we don’t intend to remark additional.”
Safra is asking the court docket to compel Christie’s to pay again what he claims to have overpaid to the public sale home below the advance settlement and damages equal to the distinction between the truthful market worth and the hammer value of the works, plus curiosity. Safra’s legal professional didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Because the authorized battle unfolds, 25 extra tons from the gathering are scheduled to hit the block in early February gross sales.