Christie’s is mobilizing its lawyers to tackle the winning bidder of a Jean Siméon Chardin masterpiece titled Cut Melon (1760) who is refusing to pay.
The Italian real estate investor Nanni Bassani Antivari won the still life with a $28 million bid in June, but the invoice remains outstanding.
The situation is awkward for Christie’s because immediately after Antivari secured Cut Melon, the house announced that the sale represented several records. They included “a world record for a Chardin,” “the most expensive 18th-century work of art ever sold in France,” and “the most expensive Old Master painting ever sold in France.” The painting’s $12.5 million high estimate was blown out of the water.
Its under-bidder was reportedly the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The bidding on Cut Melon may have been fueled by the sale of another Chardin painting at Artcurial in Paris in March last year. Then, Basket of wild strawberries (1761) sold to the Louvre for more than $25 million, setting the artist’s record.
Legal documents seen by The Art Newspaper confirm that Antivari, 39, was the winning bidder. He is registered as a real estate investor in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, he’s not known within the Old Masters market, and his father is Luca Bassani Antivari, the founder of a luxury yacht company.
Christie’s is taking Antivari to court in Paris for failing to pay for the work. The house is demanding he cough up the full price plus interest and penalty fees, amounting to $28.7 million in total. The hearing is scheduled for December 16.
The house has refused to comment – but the legal document reveals that Christie’s has been trying to convince Antivari to pay for the last six months. It also states that the invoice was due to be cleared one week after the auction, and that Antivari promised several times to push through the transfer.
Antivari’s lawyer, Michele Micheli, reportedly wrote an email to Christie’s in July saying that his client “was willing to deposit the amount in escrow to a notary chosen by both parties.” Micheli has also declined to comment on the case.
The house said there was radio silence when it asked Micheli why Antivari wanted to pay in such as way. In August, Christie’s told him to pay the entire sum immediately. His lawyer replied that he “acknowledged the late payment penalties for the invoice.” In September, Christie’s again demanded the payment, adding more than $200,000 in penalties. However, the house claims that it has still not received the money.
According to a Bloomberg report published last week, Antivari owed millions in an unpaid debt to his former business partner, the Italian fintech tycoon Andrea Pignataro. Antivari, Pignataro’s lawyers reportedly said in court filings, has “done a runner.”
