Meet a lawyer who helped recover lost CTzanne painting

Pierre Valentin, a London-based partner and head of the art and cultural assets group at Withers law firm, was in Hong Kong recently talking to clients about his role in a case involving the recovery of a stolen painting by French post-impressionist Paul Cézanne. We caught up with him to chat about art and collectors' ability to preserve their wealth.

Pierre, you were involved in a high-profile case of recovering a stolen Cézanne painting. Tell us about that.
The case arose from the theft of one of the most valuable collections of paintings ever stolen from a private residence in the US. Among the stolen paintings was an extraordinary painting by Cézanne. For more than 20 years, our client searched for the stolen works. He has now recovered all seven paintings, after we discovered who had hidden them for so many years. It transpired that the alleged thief brought them with him to the office of a local criminal lawyer and left them there. The alleged thief was later shot dead. The lawyer kept the paintings, moved them around the world, apparently hoping that one day, he could claim a reward for returning them to our client.

The Cézanne was recovered first. Four of the stolen paintings were recovered more recently, after they were consigned for sale at Sotheby's in London. The remaining two paintings, stored in a bank vault in Switzerland, have also been recovered. The lawyer was arrested, convicted and sentenced to a prison term. Our client is now looking to recover damages from him and those who assisted him to hide the paintings and profit from the theft.