No one was at the lakeside mansion south of Pentwater when the house caught fire.
It burned for over 20 minutes before anyone called the fire department, and another 30 minutes while firefighters searched for the source of the smoke.
When they discovered it, just before 10 p.m. on the night of June 2, the blaze “had a very head start,” said Pentwater Fire Chief Jonathan Hughart.
By the next morning, the massive structure had shrunk to smoldering wreckage.
And the five paintings were worth tens of millions of dollars, according to a federal lawsuit.
what were those paintings? It is unknown.
They used only the short pseudonyms “Cliff,” “Path,” “Castle,” “Prairie,” and “River” in a lawsuit filed by one of the homeowners (on behalf of the trust) against the insurance company. It is named using
Art prices have reached stratospheric levels in recent years, with prices paid at auctions often dwarfing curators’ and critics’ estimates. This applies both to names you see in museums and to lesser-known but slightly talked-about contemporary artists.
According to legal documents, the five paintings destroyed in the fire appear to cost more than $20 million to less than $93.56 million, likely at least in part by well-known artists.
Admittedly, this is a fairly broad category.
For example, for around $10 million, you could buy a painting by street artist Banksy or Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer. Buying his one of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s haystack paintings, one of which sold for more than his $110 million in 2019 No, but his “Prairie, Cielnuage” is at the same auction.
The house was owned by Julie Halbauer and the Samonica Pentwater Trust. Halbauer’s husband, Matthew Halbauer, is the founder and CEO of Pentwater Capital Management, a private investment firm managing over $9.8 billion in investments. Recent Securities and Exchange Commission applications.
Julie Halbauer, in her capacity as trustee of the Halbauer Legacy Trust, informed Lloyds of London’s Hiscox Syndicate 33 in August that the insurance company had fully reimbursed the trust for the value of three paintings. He filed a lawsuit, claiming that he did not.
Hiscox used the June 2021 evaluation of the production rather than the evaluation of the production from April 2022, court filings say.
The lawsuit also did not return any credit to two paintings, ‘Prairie’, which Hiscox acquired in September 2021, and ‘River,’ which never appeared on the list of high-value works of art covered. It claims to be a policy.
Halbower Legacy Trust is seeking “more than $20 million in insurance benefits, plus plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs,” according to documents filed by the insurer in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
From court documents, it is difficult to determine exactly how much an individual painting is worth.
Art insurance, which Halbowers took out in February, covers losses of up to $93.56 million. The value of the destroyed painting was less than that, the lawsuit says.
It’s also not clear how many works the policy covers. Matthew Halbower wrote in his Jan. 30 email cited in court documents that he was pleased with the coverage of about $100 million “because the art spreads to different homes.” .
In its lawsuit, Julie Halbauer seeks not only money for the loss of the painting, but also 12% annual interest on unpaid balances beginning August 3, and “all further remedies that this court deems fair, equitable, or appropriate.” increase.
But the insurance company’s specific phrasing, “over $20 million in insurance claims,” means that the amount is the sum of the two unpaid paintings plus about a year’s worth of valuations for the other three paintings. It seems to imply that it represents the forehead. I’m a little curious.
That sum allows for many combinations. For example, one of his paintings worth about $20 million, his second painting worth only a fraction of a penny, and three other works of his with minimal appreciation. Two of his $6.67 million paintings and another $6.67 million potential profit. And it could be anywhere in between.
For works demanding such prices, “the artist must be well known and there must be a record of such purchases,” said the owner of Saper Galleries in East Lansing, which has occasionally dealt with art. said Roy Saper, in that price range.
But the price tells you so much.
“There are a lot of art sales in that price range right now,” said David Klein, owner of the David Klein Galleries in Birmingham and Detroit. Auction. “
Neither Halbowers nor Hiscox’s attorneys chose to answer questions about the case.
Despite the loss of Pentwater Township’s homes and interior art, there may be some bright spots for the Halbauer family.
According to CNBC, Acquired by Pentwater Capital 2.4 percent stake Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media company is expected to bring in about $200 million.