An art heir in Oregon has filed a lawsuit alleging that an estate sale company he hired to liquidate his late mother's belongings significantly undervalued valuable Chinese art scrolls, with some pieces reportedly selling for as little as $45.
John E. Moody claims that Marble Road Estate Sales, the company he engaged, discovered the scrolls hidden beneath clothing in chests. Moody stated in the Clackamas County Circuit Court filing that he believed the artworks, acquired by his father, a former U.S. diplomat who served in China during the 1940s, to be worth millions.
Discovery of Hidden Art
Moody recalled the scrolls from his childhood but assumed they had been lost or donated. He only became aware they were part of his mother's estate when Marble Road Estate Sales listed them for sale. The lawsuit alleges the company used a Google image search to price the artwork, resulting in sales ranging from $45 to $275 per piece.
Moody is seeking the return of the art from the four buyers named in the lawsuit. The filing notes that he was not consulted about the discovery or the pricing of the scrolls, thus having no opportunity to influence their sale.
Artist and Value
One of the scrolls is believed to be painted by Xu Beihong, a renowned 20th-century Chinese artist known for his ink and oil paintings of birds and horses. The lawsuit describes Beihong as "the father of modern Chinese painting," pointing out that his works have fetched hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars at prestigious auction houses. For instance, one Beihong painting reportedly sold for $41.9 million in 2011. Moody's father, who worked for the State Department in China, is said to have acquired the scrolls in the 1940s.
Legal Proceedings
While Marble Road Estate Sales is not named as a defendant, the buyers have been sued. One of the named buyers, Changning "Charlie" Huang, expressed surprise at the lawsuit, likening it to a store customer being asked to return an item after a pricing error.
Legal experts not involved in the case suggest that sellers typically bear the responsibility for due diligence in pricing items. The defendants have not yet formally responded to the lawsuit. Attorneys for Moody and the Daily Mail's requests for comment from Marble Road Estate Sales were pending.
Moody's late father, a U.S. diplomat, is said to have acquired the paintings in the 1940s in China. 
