U.S. attempts to seize Basquiat painting smuggled from Brazil

14.02.2008 20:45 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

U.S. prosecutors have filed papers in an attempt to seize a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat that turned up in a Manhattan warehouse.

Hannibal, estimated to be worth $8 million US, is acrylic, oil stick and paper collage on canvas by the late American graffiti artist.

The filing is part of an effort to return the painting to Brazil, which claims it was purchased with the proceeds of crime.

The painting's last known owner was Edemar Cid Ferreira, the former owner of Banco Santos, which went spectacularly bankrupt in 2005 with debts of over $1 billion US.

Ferreira, one of Brazil's biggest art collectors, was convicted of money laundering and fraud and sentenced to 21 months in jail, but has an appeal winding through the courts.

Brazilian courts ordered the seizure of his art collection, estimated at $20 million US, but Hannibal was missing.

Basquiat, who first became known as a graffiti artist in Manhattan and rocketed to prominence in the 1980s, was known for his strong use of colour.

In a court filing Wednesday, U.S. officials said a courier had brought the painting into the U.S. from London in August claiming its value was about $100 US.

It was discovered in a warehouse in New York last November.

"Hannibal, a painting with great value and artistic significance, was transported through three continents and smuggled into the U.S. disguised as a $100 painting," U.S. attorney Michael J. Garcia said in a statement Wednesday.

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