[MSN] New York: An art gallery has sued the Christie's auction house and a man in an effort to recover a $100, 000 Andy Warhol painting that the gallery reported stolen nearly 10 years ago.

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New York gallery sues to recover Warhol's 'Dollar Sign' artwork

By SAMUEL MAULL

Associated Press Writer

5:49 PM EST, February 5, 2008

NEW YORK

An art gallery has sued the Christie's auction house and a man in an effort
to recover a $100,000 Andy Warhol painting that the gallery reported stolen
nearly 10 years ago.

Martin Lawrence Galleries says in court papers that the 1981 artwork, known
as the Warhol "Dollar Sign," was stolen with another Warhol painting from
its showroom in Manhattan's SoHo area on Feb. 14, 1998.

The gallery says it reported the theft to police and to the Art Loss
Register.

The missing "Dollar Sign" artwork is one of a number of paintings on the
same theme in different colors and sizes. Photographs of the canvases show a
stylized dollar sign colored with streaky, polymer paint and silkscreen ink
on canvas.

In February 2006, a "Dollar Sign" series painting sold for $4.5 million in
London.

In September 2007, court papers say, Brooklyn resident Jason Beltrez tried
to consign the Martin Lawrence artwork to Christie's Inc. in Manhattan for
sale. Christie's, as usual, asked the Art Loss Register to check the
painting against its database of lost and stolen artworks.

An ALR historian said the Beltrez consignment was the "Dollar Sign" that had
been stolen from the Martin Lawrence gallery in 1998, says the lawsuit,
filed Monday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.

And in October 2007, a curator from the gallery's parent, Chalk & Vermilion
Fine Arts Inc., confirmed the canvas was the stolen Warhol, court papers
say.

Christie's still has the painting, whose value, court papers say, "is
estimated to be in excess of $100,000."

Christie's associate general counsel Keith Carlisle issued a statement
saying, "Christie's is a disinterested third party in this lawsuit and is
unable to comment on the pending litigation. We are simply storing the work
of art until the lawsuit is resolved."

Martin Lawrence president Eric Dannemann issued a statement through his
lawyer Joel Lever, saying he was pleased that the artwork had been recovered
and crediting "the good efforts of Christie's and the Art Loss Register" and
similar agencies in their efforts to recover lost or stolen art.

Telephone calls to Beltrez and to his lawyer were not immediately returned
Tuesday.

Warhol, who made a career of turning famous faces and everyday objects such
as Campbell's soup cans and Coke bottles into pop art, died in 1987. 

Newsday.com