The seizure, which took place last week, according to the Wall Street Journal, is the latest episode in a series of misfortunes, including bankruptcy, that have blighted the Upper East Side dealership in the past five years.
The March 30 court ruling authorising the seizure stated that the gallery had continued to sell works of art after being notified of the default without setting aside funds for its creditor, the bank American Capital Financial Services.
It comes as a number of galleries have closed in the wake of the recession, most dramatically involving the $120m Lawrence Salander fraud case reported on these pages two weeks ago.
In a twist, Berry-Hill’s chairman, James Berry Hill, appeared to deny that the artworks were being seized. He was also reported as saying that the firm were in negotiations to pay the bank in full.
The gallery filed for Chapter 11 under the US Banking code in 2005 to protect it from creditors, with an eventual settlement in 2007 to creditors and costs running into millions of dollars.
That cleared the way for a reorganisation of the company with new backers, including American Capital Financial Services. But there was further discord when Frederick D. Hill and Daisy Hill Sanders left the firm last October, leaving James Berry Hill in full control as chairman.
