ALERT: RIP OFF! SCAMMED BY CHRISTIE’S AUCTION HOUSE FOR SELLING US A FAKE PAINTING! Yes it’s true, on November 20, 1991 at the Latin American Art Auction in Manhattan, New York, Christie’s Auction House employees puffed, inflated and misrepresented the authenticity of an original artwork by Wilfredo Lam, Auction #7362, Lot #50 and sold it to us at the auction. Christie’s employees negligently misrepresented that the original oil on canvas painting named “Figuras Cariberias” was painted by Wilfredo Lam in the 1950’s, during his prime years and was going to be a masterpiece. At the auction, we received from Christie’s a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) issued by the artists’ ex-wife, Helena Benitez (formerly Helena Lam). Can you believe it, Christie’s says that on November 20, 1991 the painting was AUTHENTIC and they were happy to sell it to us for $88,000, but today September 10, 2014, 23 years later Christie’s says the painting is NOT AUTHENTIC and they will not resell it for us. Yes you heard right, when Christie’s sold it to us it was authentic, but was not authentic when we wanted them to resell it. When we approached Christie’s to make good on their mistake Christie’s response was to delay and prevaricate. Christie’s did say we would have a better chance to approach the Lam Foundation and force them to authenticate the artwork. The Lam Foundation refused to authenticate the painting and has ignored all our requests and correspondence. Knowing in advance that the Lam Foundation is controlled by the son of Wilfredo Lam’s deceased third wife who was not on good terms with Helena Benitez Lam it became obvious that the foundation would not authenticate the painting even if they knew it was authentic. Their answer was that the artwork was not authentic without doing an investigation, having any reasonable explanation or providing expert analysis. Instead the door was shut and case closed. Politics and Corruption! Helena Benitez was the recognized world renowned expert during the time period in which the artwork was painted. It was recognized that she would authenticate artworks during the time period between 1930 and 1959. Lou Laurin-Lam the third and final wife would authenticate artwork after 1960. Both women are now deceased so they cannot comment or defend themselves. The son of Lou Laurin-Lam, Eskil Lam now controls the Lam Foundation and will not authenticate the painting for selfish personal reasons. The artwork does not appear in Wilfredo Lam’s published 2007 “Catalogue Raisonne of the Painted Work of Wilfredo Lam”, because the foundation under Eskils’ control created this catalog only choosing the artwork to be placed into the catalog. Now you are probably getting the picture why Lam’s most famous painting was not in the catalog because it was not painted during the Lou Laurin-Lam years, Helena Benitez is deceased and the Lam Foundation will not even attempt to authenticate it. So while the painting was authentic in 1991 it’s not authentic in 2014 and Christie’s has the nerve to dictate to us that things change and too bad tough luck. Does it sound like total corruption by these professionals in the art world? They obviously don’t care about their reputation, do they? How did this all get started? I approached Mr. Ramon Cernuda of Cernuda Arte in Coral Gables, Florida by email to see how much we could possibly get by selling the painting through his connections. He is considered the renowned expert to speak to when buying and selling Cuban Art. The first thing he said was this painting was not authentic and a forgery. He was shocked that Christie’s sold this painting at the 1991 auction. He also said that Helena Benitez Lam told him that she was sorry to certify this painting. Mr. Cernuda said he will prove it in court. After those communications, I immediately called Jessica Katz of Christie’s in Coral Gables, Florida whom after a few hours called me to let me know the painting was not authentic and Christie’s would not resell what they sold to us. She said things change over time and what was authentic then may not be now. So when they sold it to us it was authentic, but when we tried to resell it was fake. Wow, can you believe it? So I called Christie’s in-house counsel in Manhattan, New York and after 4 weeks of their investigation we find them ignoring us and refusing to deal with the truth and instead trying to fabricate the facts of the constructive fraud induced upon us. Christie’s defense? Christie’s will tell you that they have a 5 year statute of limitations. However, there is plenty of precedent in the Federal Court of the Southern District in New York, where the statute of limitation has been broken. For example, if we are not expert art dealers or collectors but a person of ordinary intelligence and prudence and Christie’s puffed the authenticity of the artwork for sale, the injury to us is not recognized at the time of deliver but at the time we pulled it off the wall to resell. Three months ago to our shock and surprise and upon the discovery of the facts we were significantly injured by Christie’s Auction House with a major financial loss. We were told by Christie’s the painting was worthless. What do we mean by puffed? How about negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, constructive fraud, inherent unknowable injury to the buyer, equitable tolling and let’s not forget mistake of fact to an ordinary intelligent person who relies on Christie’s Auction House to make a diligent effort to make certain that the artwork they sell is authentic. Our hard earned money lost! Had Christie’s sold us an authentic painting, and were made whole we have an offer to sell it for $1.3 million. However, now that Christie’s and the Lam Foundation are hiding and ignoring our calls for justice the painting is virtually worthless. What do we want from Christie’s? We want to be made whole as if we purchased an authentic painting. We want to be compensated for today’s value for the painting. BEWARE! Let the public beware that Christie’s will rip you off and walk away without a conscience. They obviously have no morals or ethical values and will strip away your hard earned money without thinking twice about the consequences as they did to us. Govern yourselves accordingly!!