Pay up or stolen painting stays in our hands, says Tokyo museum

Julian Ryall

Izzy Lyons

A JAPANESE museum is refusing to return a £1m Joshua Reynolds painting stolen from a Sussex home in 1984 unless it receives “just and reasonable compensation”.

The oil-on-canvas portrait was painted in about 1780 but stolen from the home of Sir Henry and Lady Price with a number of other works of art and family heirlooms.

Four years after the theft, the painting is thought to have been auctioned at Sotheby’s in London to an art dealer, who sold it to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum in 1990.

The family of the late Sir Henry – a businessman from Yorkshire who founded Fifty Shilling Tailors stores in 1905 and later became a well-known philanthropist – engaged Art Recovery International to locate the painting and it was subsequently found in Tokyo.

But the museum refused to meet with the original owners of the painting and demanded payment of “a reasonable sum” before even engaging in discussions over the stolen work, which is a contravention of International Council of Museums guidelines.

Akira Gokita, director of the museum, did not respond to a request from The Daily Telegraph for a comment, but Kumada & Ogawa, its Tokyo law firm, confirmed that the museum wants a payout.

Tim Radley-smith, Lady Price’s grandson, told The Telegraph that it was “puzzling” how the painting got to Japan. “My grandmother requested that my brother and I try and track it down before she died in 1993”, he said.

“She got quite sentimental one day and said it would be wonderful if someone could try and find it.”

The work is a portrait of Miss Mathew, later Lady Elizabeth Mathew, with her dog before a landscape.

Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and CEO of Venice-based Art Recovery International, said the museum initially denied that the painting was the same one that had been stolen in England.

It has since been presented with documentation to prove that the painting was the missing artwork, however, including the original receipt for the portrait from 1942 and a picture of it hanging in the family home, which museum officials have refused to accept.

Mr Marinello said the museum has also claimed “that they acquired the portrait in good faith under Japanese law” and he alleges they have since sought to frustrate the owners’ attempts to reclaim the work.

Mr Marinello is contesting the museum’s claim, pointing out that it failed to carry out independent due diligence before acquiring the work.

A spokesman for Sotheby’s told The Telegraph: “We have had no contact from Art Recovery International, or anyone else, regarding this so we have no evidence to suggest that there is any truth in it.

“We welcome any further information the relevant parties can provide.”