In a year-long, high-profile dispute between a private collector and their insurance company, documents have unveiled an unsettling revelation.
Background: Three significant artworks by the celebrated Impressionist artist Claude Monet, with an estimated value of $45 million, were among the casualties of a devastating fire that ravaged a lakeside residence in Oceana County, Michigan, in June 2022.
A legal battle centres around collectors Julie and Matthew Halbower, along with their entity, the Halbower Legacy Trust, pitted against a consortium of insurers operating under the aegis of London-based Hiscox, a renowned underwriter for Lloyds of London. Matthew Halbower, the CEO of Pentwater Capital Management, a hedge fund managing over $9.8 billion, found himself at the heart of this dispute.
In August 2022, the Halbower Trust initiated legal proceedings against Hiscox in Michigan, two months after the catastrophic fire engulfed their Michigan residence. The court documents reveal that the June inferno resulted in the total obliteration of the Oceana County Home and its contents, including five priceless artworks protected under a Fine Art Policy issued by Howden Insurance Brokers Limited and underwritten by Hiscox. According to court records, this policy boasted a liability limit of $100 million. Halbower has alleged that the insurer failed to compensate the trust for the complete worth of three artworks decimated in the blaze post-fire. Furthermore, they claim that the insurer has not paid out anything for two additional paintings believed to be covered under the policy.
MLive, a local Michigan news outlet, first cracked the mystery of the lost artworks. The paintings in question include Monet’s La Route de Vetheuil (1880), referred to as “Path,” with a fair market appraised value of $14 million, for which the insurers paid out $16 million. Monet’s Falaise at Varengeiville (1882), dubbed “Cliff,” had an appraised value of $14 million and received an insurance payout of $15 million. Finally, Francis Picabia’s Ruine de Passy-Les Tours effet de Soleil (1906), known as “Castle,” had an appraised value of $325,000, for which the insurers paid out $333,000. So far, the Halbower Trust has received approximately $31.3 million due to the fire.
The two disputed artworks, which insurers have not agreed upon or paid out, are Monet’s Prairie, Ciel Nuageux (1890), previously known as “Prairie,” and Monet’s La Seine press du Vetheuil (1878), aka “River.” The former was sold at Sotheby’s in 2019 for nearly $6 million, with the Halbower Trust acquiring it in 2021. The collectors purchased La Seine in 2018, and it currently holds a listed fair market value of $13 million, as evidenced by email exchanges between Halbower and a third party assisting with property lists for the policy, as documented in court filings.
The primary issue concerns whether these two paintings were added to the insurance policy. Recent court filings have focused on the insurers’ demands for access to hard drives and cellphones, especially correspondence between Matthew Halbower and a third-party insurance agent regarding adding artworks to the policy and adjusting overall policy limits.
According to Hiscox’s response to the complaint filed in November 2022, “Hiscox admits that it has denied coverage for the Prairie and the River consistent with the terms of the Policy.” The court documents also list around seven other undamaged major Impressionist artworks located at different residences, which are not part of the claim but provide a glimpse into the magnitude of the collection held by the Halbower Trust.
Top Photo: Monet – La Seine près de Vétheuil, 1878 Courtesy Wikipedia