The son of a New Hampshire mother-son duo accused of selling almost $700,000 in counterfeit paintings to a well-known art collector is requesting that the US District Court enter judgment in his and his mother’s favor, according to recently submitted court documents.
Nikolas Gascard, representing himself and his mother, filed an answer to plaintiff Andrew Hall’s complaint with the US District Court in New Hampshire on June 26. In the document, Gascard goes step-by-step through Hall’s corrected complaint, admitting and denying claims throughout. Gascard lays out 21 affirmative defenses in total.
“Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to admit or deny the allegation that Plaintiff ‘discovered that the artworks purchased from defendants were all forgeries’ and therefore denies same,” read the document. “Defendant denies that ‘none of them [were] painted by Golub.’”
At the end of the document, Gascard asks the court to enter judgment in his and his mother’s favor, and/or to dismiss the complaint in its entirety. He also asks the court deny Hall’s request for financial damages to be paid for by the Gascards.
A lawsuit was filed against the Gascards – Nikolas and his mother Lorettann – in September by Hall, who alleged that the former art history professor at Franklin Pierce University and her adult son sold him 24 counterfeit Leon Golub paintings between Sept. 23, 2009 and October 2011. Hall is a well-known art collector and has built a career in oil trading and hedge fund management.
US District Judge Steven J. McAuliffe recently denied all but one motion to dismiss from the Gascards, dismissing Hall’s common law breach of warranty claim. The Gascards are still facing claims of fraud, conspiracy to defraud, breach of statutory warranty, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of New Hampshire’s Consumer Protection Act.
Hall was initially seeking compensation of no less than $676,250, which represented the purchase price of the works, plus compensation for attorney’s fees and costs expended in discovering that the paintings were forged, but will now seek less, according to court documents.
A trial has been set for a two-week period beginning on March 20, 2018.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.