The Alberto Giacometti Association headed by American Mary-Lisa Palmer will now be under the control of an administrator in charge of the succession of Annette Giacometti, the artist's widow, a Paris court ruled on February 17th 2000. Mary-Lisa Palmer, who was Annette Giacometti's assistant during twenty years, was being accused of having transformed the Association as a “fortress” with the aim of trying to lay her hands on the succession and the works of Giacometti.
She however claimed that the Association never took a cent out of its capital fund amounting to 22,7 million FF ($ 3,43 million) while running it pending the setting up of a proposed Giacometti Foundation. “We have nothing to hide and no reproach can be made against us,” she told the court.
Still the court decided that measures of conservation would be taken against the Association meaning that the signature of its administrator, Hélène da Camara, would be necessary regarding any financial operation.
The court also appointed an expert to verify all the accounts of the Association while all its archives would be under the control of the administrator. Such ruling implies that the Giacometti Association now falls under the tutelage of Hélène da Camara. In addition, the Association now faces the dire prospect of having to hand back what it possesses to the Giacometti heirs. If the administrator got satisfaction over this sensitive point the Association would thus disappear.
In this case a Foundation would be set up to house the Giacometti collection estimated at $ 121 million with Annette's brother and sister-in-law Michel and Alice Arm as its main beneficiaries. They would however be forced to donate a large part of the collection to the French State in order to pay duties.
Home
