Court rules stolen art must be returned

PRETORIA: “I cried like a baby when my three paintings were stolen and sold. They were like my children.”

This was stated by Pieter Janse van Rensburg, a Willows artist.

He has been embroiled in a legal tussle with a Pretoria North art gallery that sold his three paintings, which are worth R1.5 million.

But Friday was a happy day for the 64-year-old when the high court in Pretoria ordered Alette Wessels, owner of the Alette Wessels Kunskamer in Maroelana, to return the paintings to Janse van Rensburg within 30 days.

The paintings – Lady in a Dressing Gown, Standing Nude With Red Hair On A Green Cloth and Nude – were painted by Ruth Everard.

They were allegedly taken from Janse van Rensburg’s home by his lodger, identified only as Gerhard.

Wessels said she had believed the paintings belonged to Gerhard and subsequently sold them to a man identified as a Mr Van der Merwe.

But Judge Peter Mabuse said Wessels knew the paintings did not belong to Gerhard and was not allowed to sell them in the first place.

Janse van Rensburg told the court that he was the owner of the paintings and had given no one permission to take or sell them.

He said Gerhard took the paintings from his home without his knowledge or consent.

Gerhard acknowledged that he had handed over the paintings to Wessels.

She confirmed this, but said Gerhard had told her the paintings were his. Wessels said she had sold them.

Janse van Rensburg testified that he had asked Wessels to give him the details of the new owner, but she had refused, wanting to protect the identity of her client.

Wessels, however, told the court she would reclaim the paintings if the court ordered her to do so.

Shortly after the paintings were taken in August 2013, Janse van Rensburg’s attorney sent an e-mail to Wessels, saying that the paintings belonged to his client.

Judge Mabuse said this should have alerted Wessels to the fact that the paintings did not belong to Gerhard, and she should have investigated the matter. However, she had neglected to do this.

The lawyer also told Wessels at the time his client was not initially

I could only buy it years later after I had worked and earned enough money to buy it

aware that Gerhard had removed the paintings from his premises.

This, according to the judge, should have sounded even more warning bells.

The judge said Wessels simply “buried her head in the sand” and insisted that Gerhard was the owner of the paintings.

The judge said it was never Wessels’ defence that the paintings were “irreclaimable”. He said Wessels had no justifiable reasons to believe the paintings belonged to Gerhard and should have suspected that all was not in order.

Janse van Rensburg scored a second victory over Wessels after the court ordered her to pay him compensation for badmouthing him.

Janse van Rensburg claimed R250 000 damages in this regard, but the amount due to him would be determined at a later stage.

This followed claims by Wessels that Janse van Rensburg and Gerhard were engaged in a homosexual relationship and that they were involved in fraud relating to artworks. Janse van Rensburg said this was untrue and defamatory.

Following his legal victory, he told Cape Times sister paper the Pretoria News he was devastated when the paintings were stolen, especially Lady in a Dressing Gown.

“Ruth Everard taught me art when I was a child, and since then I lost my heart on the painting. I could only buy it years later after I had worked and earned enough money to buy it.”

He said the painting has been in his possession since the early 1980s. It was stored in his garage and he discovered it was missing only after he went to look for something in his garage. “I cannot wait for my ‘children’ to come home.”