No more brush-offs, I want my art back!
A Manhattan restaurateur claims his art collection is being held hostage.
Enrico Proietti, whose eateries included the ’80s hotspot CiaoBella and the Upper East Side trattorias Per Lei and Bella Blu, says he fears his 44 Valentino Cortazar paintings are going to be sold off without his permission.
He left the colorful, abstract paintings, which include depictions of him, his wife and daughter, on the walls of Baraonda, his Second Avenue Italian eatery, even after he sold the business to Susan Aktay last year, Proietti claims in Manhattan Supreme Court papers.
The collection is worth about $200,000, Proietti’s lawyer said.
They agreed he would retrieve the paintings in February, but Aktay allegedly ignored Proietti’s requests to get the art back.
Proietti then “went by the restaurant to discover that the entire collection had been removed,” according to the lawsuit he filed against Aktay.
Workers told him they fielded calls from people wanting to buy the “unique and valuable” art.
Aktay denied wrongdoing and says she’s been trying to work with Proietti for weeks to return the paintings.
“Are you kidding?” she said when The Post asked about the allegations. “Those are not mine, why should I sell them? . . . I don’t care about the paintings. I don’t sell anything.”
Aktay claims Proietti still owes her money related to city violations issued to Baraonda under his ownership.
“There are no violations that he hasn’t taken care of or is in the process of taking care of,” said Proietti’s lawyer, Scott Epstein, “and he expects Ms. Aktay to immediately turn over all of his paintings to him.”