Summary: Alec Baldwin is suing over his allegedly fraudelent $190,000 painting.
Alec Baldwin sued prominent art dealer Mary Boone on Monday in New York State Supreme Court. The 30 Rock actor had purchased a painting from Boone years ago, but he said that the authenticity of the work is in question.
In 2010, Baldwin purchased a painting from Boone’s gallery. Baldwin said he had been promised a painting called “Sea and Mirror” by Ross Bleckner, but that work had been sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2007. The work Boone gave Baldwin was another Bleckner painting also interestingly-enough called “Sea and Mirror,” but it was not the original.
The Ross Bleckner ”Sea and Mirror” painting that Baldwin purchased. Photo courtesy of The New York Times.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that Boone had misrepresented which painting Baldwin was buying. Baldwin said Boone went so far as to fraudulently stamp his painting to trick him into thinking he was getting the one that was sold in 2007.
Boone denied Baldwin’s claims, and she said he was trying to intimidate her. Her lawyer Ted Poretz said that Baldwin was “vindictive” and that he was having an “unseemly reaction to his own misunderstanding.” Her lawyer added that she offered him a full refund before he sued; and Boone, who had been in the art scene for decades, had no reason to mislead clients.
Baldwin had paid $190,000 for the painting, and he said he expressed concerns early when the painting arrived and he thought it was too bright and smelled odd. Boone’s lawyer said he had been told he was getting a different version of the painting, but Baldwin denies this.
Do you think Boone misled Baldwin, or is he at fault? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: New York Times
Photo courtesy of ABC News