Axa Art Insurance Corporation's Subrogation Lawsuit Seeks $1.5M From Christie’s

Axa Art Insurance Corp. filed a subrogation lawsuit claiming that the famed auction house Christie’s in New York failed to properly store a fine art collection that belonged to Axa’s insured, the Piatigorsky Trust, during Superstorm Sandy. Christie’s, a well-known name in auctions, also provides fine art storage services. In the lawsuit, Axa is accusing Christie’s of grossly negligent acts and is seeking $1.5 million. Axa’s insured, the Piatigorsky Trust, holds the art collection of the late Jacqueline Piatigorsky, a philanthropist and arts patron.In the complaint, filed last week at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Axa says that “Christie’s claimed to be the ‘world’s premier storage provider for fine art’ and that it stored its clients’ art in ‘fail safe facilities.’” But, the lawsuit claims, Christie’s warehouse, “located in a major flood zone in Red Hook, Brooklyn, proved to be quite the opposite when Superstorm Sandy struck.” “This action seeks recovery for damages to the art collection owned by the Piatigorsky Trust that was caused by the grossly negligent acts (and failures to act) of Christie’s,” the complaint says.