Many collectors are still awaiting news on pictures they had consigned to Trinity House Paintings. This Jeune homme nu allongé by Amedeo Modigliani, c.1912-13, was one of the artworks sent to the now collapsed gallery.
Photograph from owner
Trinity House Paintings was founded in 2006 and run by Beale from a gallery in Broadway, Worcestershire, until it folded with significant debts last year.
Administrators at FRP Advisory were appointed to handle the winding-up process in June 2023. However, according to a recent progress report covering the dates June 5 to December 4, Beale has not complied fully with requests for documents and information, even after a court order was sought.
The report blames him for increasing the estimated costs of the process – legal fees, property agent fees, storage costs and IT services to review more than a million emails – from £155,000 to £293,840. An extension of 12 months will also be required.
According to the report, “due to high costs involved in administering the case” the administrators “do not anticipate that there will be sufficient realisations to enable a distribution to the unsecured creditors”.
These include the company’s preferential creditors, such as staff and HMRC.
Many individuals believe they rightfully own artworks that had been consigned to Trinity House Paintings for sale. Following investigations, more than 600 artworks have now been listed by the administrator. They were recovered from the gallery and other locations including 17 paintings in a pub, 18 in a golf club, 24 at a printer and a further 28 artworks in the US.
The administrators said “significant work has been undertaken to identify the ownership status of the paintings” and added “this process is ongoing and a lengthy exercise”.
FRP would not comment on how many artworks have already been returned to owners. It told ATG: “The process to establish ownership and reconcile artwork is ongoing. Where proof of ownership has been provided we have returned artwork to their owners.”
Our story in ATG No 2625.
ATG is aware of one which has been recovered: a painting by Ben Nicholson (Viper) which the collector recovered with the help of West Mercia Police (see ATG No 2625).
Some progress has been made on selling some of the assets of the company by the administrators.
The company’s lender, Clydesdale Bank, which is owed more than £1.5m, will be repaid in full. It has already received £888,000 from the sale of two properties.
The company had three freehold properties: two in Broadway (including its gallery) and one in Cheltenham. Two have been sold and the gallery is under offer to a buyer.
‘Stubbs picture’
In the report, the administrators said they are focused on completing the sale of the gallery, returning artworks to third parties; the collection of debts owed to the company and, following identification of which paintings the gallery owns, a sale of these paintings.
There is also one picture described as by George Stubbs which Trinity had arranged a chattel mortgage on. The administrators’ investigation is ongoing regarding its true ownership.
