Two Paintings Stolen by Paola Trevisan

These two paintings have been stolen by Ms. Paola Trevisan, former assistant director of SEKANINA Contemporary Art Gallery in Ferrara, Italy.

http://www.theoceanseries.com/artwork31.html

http://www.theoceanseries.com/artwork32.html

If anyone has knowledge of the whereabouts of these paintings or wishes to offer constructive suggestions as to how I might go about recovering them, please reply either through this forum or by using the Contact Form on my web site.

Nightmare! I presume she has physically took them and shes based in Italy? No doubt you can't get in touch with her, then I'd get in touch with her former employers and see if you can get any sort of address off them. This is so obvious though, you've probably done it, you could hire a private dick to track her down, but is it worth it? If all else fails, you could try and blacken her name but I doubt she'd give a toss.

How exactly did she nick them?

Long story. She was the assistant director at the gallery. There were issues with Customs; briefly, contemporary art pays no V.A.T. in Italy, but to determine whether or not the art IS contemporary requires an inspection, and THAT costs about 700 Euro. The gallery paid it because it was 2 days before the opening, the customs agents at Bologna Airport wouldn't release my paintings, and I didn't have the money. (I had dealt with the customs exactly according to Paola's instructions and was never warned about this; evidently she was incompetent and/or inexperienced when it came to organizing a show for a foreigner.)

I left Italy and went back to Oregon. The show sold two paintings out of the twelve that were exhibited. Paola got fired, or quit - I'm not sure which - and when she left she took my 10 unsold paintings with her. I wanted them to be sent to my agent in London. Paola kept asking for more and more money to do this - I sent her $1,500; She never did anything.

Finally I met the daughter of an Italian Senator who offered to help; for another 1,600 Euro she did manage to get 8 of the paintings to my agent in London. Paola claims that she "gave" the two missing paintings to "foreign clients" because I told her she could (Of course, I never told her any such thing, and she can't produce any evidence of any such communication).

Evidently Paola sold the paintings - probably for less than my asking price -and pocketed the money. So, to sum up, I got ripped off for $1500, and two paintings worth $3000 each, plus 700 Euro for the Customs inspection and another 1600 Euro for shipping the unsold work forward - which was supposed to have been the gallery's responsibility in the first place.

It will be a pleasant, balmy day in hell when I have my next show in Italy... and I'm going to get even with this thief, Paola Trevisan, if it takes years.

Any suggestions?

did you get any sort of paperwork or contract for the exhibition? Surely you must have got something saying they'd take responsibility for minding your work? If so, push the gallery for compensation and say that you'll go to the press about their former employees bahaviour and blacken their names. They'll probably have more connections and power than you and might be able to get to the bottom of this for you.

I think tracking the lost 2 paintings will be nigh on impossible now so I'd count them as missing in action, your pretty stuck on getting the agent back though. All you can do is try to track her next jobs and get in touch with her new employers and inform them that they are employing a dirty thief.

of course I have documentation. check her out on the Internet, btw.

Since you've got paperwork and proof the gallery had your paintings, I'd get in touch with a lawyer and threaten to sue them for losing your work, see how they react to that.

How do you propose that I go about initiating a lawsuit in Ferrara, Italy? I'm located in Sarasota, Florida, in the USA... And, of course, this is what Ms.Trevisan is counting on.

Another gallery located in Los Angeles, California, is also stiffing me for $1750 that they owe on a painting they sold back in November. If I knew anyone in LA who'd be willing to file a claim for me in Small Claims Court, I'd be willing to share the proceeds.

Anyone interested? The gallery is located in Venice Beach.

To see an example of just how effective a tool the Internet can be in a situation like this, go to Google and enter the search terms "Paola Trevisan"...

Hi, I have known Carson Collins at the Sekanina gallery where Paola Trevisan and my professor Orsatti worked. I have memory that the first evening I have seen this artist he had ended to prepare its show, he had drunk a lot evidently.
The second evening that I have seen him it has been during the opening of his exhibition; Collins was not there, he was closed in the bath completely drunk, incapable to keep himself in feet; the artistic director and Paola were naturally very embarrassed from the situation. I and my friend have seen him to enter staggering through the secondary door of the gallery and to close himself in the bathroom! This while the gallery was packed of public.
I know that Paola looked after Collins for the period in which he it has been in Italy, she carried him outside to supper, to lunch, she gave him accommodation to her parent

wow, a rebuttal.

hamlet?

Hee hee! The plot thickens!!

For the record, Arete is really from Italy based on the IP address. Welcome to the site, BTW Did you find it by searching for Paola?

Arete,
In response to your comments:
Did I get drunk at the opening? Yes.
Did Paola buy a painting? Yes.
Did she later steal two of my paintings and $1500 I had sent her to pay for their transportation to London? Yes.
Is Paola an honest person? No. She's a thief. And all of this nonsense about her paying for my food and lodging during my stay in Ferrara is completely false. I had dinner with her family and spent the night at their house on exactly one occasion. We parted company on good terms. It was months later when she apparently decided that she could get away with stealing my work; after all, I haven't the means of going back to Italy and prosecuting her.

What exactly is your point? I sometimes drink too much, so therefore it's OK to steal from me?

i'm inclined to agree with hamlet here. the guy is missing $1500 that were meant to transport two paintings. bot of which he doesnt have and arete only accounted for one. no amount of alcohol induced forgetfulness can do that. and in regards to alcohol, you have to get RIDICULOUSLY loaded to suffer total amnesia unless you're a chronic drunk (in which case you've got Karsokoff's syndrome) and i dont see all of these things happening that he would forget it.

i'm inclined to agree with hamlet here. the guy is missing $1500 that were meant to transport two paintings. bot of which he doesnt have and arete only accounted for one. no amount of alcohol induced forgetfulness can do that. and in regards to alcohol, you have to get RIDICULOUSLY loaded to suffer total amnesia unless you're a chronic drunk (in which case you've got Karsokoff's syndrome) and i dont see all of these things happening that he would forget it.

Yeah, to me it sounds like Paola might have considered the paintings payment for services, that one overnight stay, and maybe her personal problems with the drinking issue without informing Carson. If that's the case, then by all means it was unfair and would constitute stealing. Now I might have missed something, but won't the Sekanina gallery tell you where to find Paola? Especially if you call in a generally friendly manner?