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The court in Aix-en-Provence ruled that Homage to Van Gogh, Arles, which Bacon painted in 1985, should be handed over to the Estate of Francis Bacon as it had only ever been on loan.
The disputed work, based on Van Gogh's 1888 self-portrait, The Painter On The Road To Tarascon, has been hanging in Arles, southwestern France, since 1991. Bacon had painted it at the behest of Yolande Clergue, a curator who wanted to create a foundation to exhibit works inspired by Van Gogh for the 100th anniversary of his two-year stay in Arles.
She had claimed he had expressed his desire to leave it to her Van Gogh foundation in letters and in person.
The foundation first borrowed it for an exhibition from July 1988 to May 1989, when Bacon asked for it back. It borrowed it a second time in May 1991, and a contract showed it was due to be returned in July 1996.
The Arles foundation had kept it from then on, but the appeals court ruled that "Francis Bacon never implied that he was giving this painting away." "There is neither donation of the painting nor any promise of donating this painting" and no proof he intended it to stay in Arles indefinitely, it ruled.
Besides, under French law, it went on, "there is no such thing as a permanent loan which the lender can never put an end to".
Bacon died in 1992 and his partner John Edwards inherited his estate. When Mr Edwards died in 2003, it was handed over to a four-person trust based on the Channel island of Jersey.
This trust had been demanding the return of the painting since 2006.
Currently on display, it must be taken down in the next ten days, and the foundation faces a fine of 1,000 euros (£866) for each day its return is delayed.
Henry Samuel in Paris |
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