Authorities from France and the U.S. raided a Puerto Rico-based foundation dedicated to the work of the pioneering Op-Art painter Victor Vasarely yesterday.
More than 100 Vasarely works of art were allegedly taken from the premises and loaded onto a truck, according to local reports.
The Michèle Vasarely Foundation in Old San Juan was the target of the operation, which was carried out under the order of a French judge, and supported by members of the FBI, the Agence France-Presse reported. A spokesperson for the FBI did not immediately return a request for comment.
Why the artworks were seized remains unclear. But the head of the foundation, Michele Taburno-Vasarely, Victor’s former daughter in law, has been embroiled in a knotty legal battle with Vasarely’s grandson, Pierre Vasarely, over the ownership of hundreds of the late artist’s paintings.
The complicated saga between the two parties goes back years.
