UMB Bank has lost Thomas Hart Benton art, mismanaged the artist’s trusts, lawsuit says
UMB Bank cannot account for more than 100 pieces of art that the family of late Kansas City artist Thomas Hart Benton entrusted the bank to manage, a lawsuit filed this week claims.
Furthermore, UMB Bank failed to properly care for the Benton artwork it can account for, sold other pieces for less than their market value and engaged in self-dealing in its handling of the collection.
Taken together, the claims filed by four of Benton’s direct relatives in Jackson County probate court on Tuesday paint a damning portrait of UMB Bank’s care of the renowned artists’ estate. Suing UMB Bank are Benton’s daughter, Jessie Benton, her son Anthony Gude and daughters Daria Lyman and Cybele Benton McCormick.
“UMB in the short of it, has failed to complete the most fundamental tasks from the beginning to adequately care for the property entrusted to it, and then charged fees to the Trust,” said Andre Boyda, a North Kansas City attorney who represents Benton’s family in the probate case, in a statement. “We have reason to believe that UMB has lost well over 100 pieces of Benton artwork. They essentially in this case charged the beneficiaries fees for years, without delivering the services.”
All told, the Benton family claims it has suffered a “significant economic loss” from UMB’s alleged mismanagement of its trusts. It’s asking a Jackson County judge to remove UMB as trustee of the Benton trusts. It also seeks unspecified damages.
UMB Bank president and chief executive Jim Rine said in a statement that the bank takes seriously its role as trustee for artwork and other client assets and called the allegations “misguided.” Rine said while the bank would like to address the claims publicly, its policy is to not comment on pending litigation.
“We can say UMB values the relationships with individuals and families for whom it has the privilege of providing trust management services,” Rine said. “Despite our extensive efforts to address issues presented, the Benton family and its representatives have chosen to resolve alleged issues through litigation. We take our role as a trustee for art and other assets seriously and will directly address and defend the misguided allegations made in the lawsuit. We look forward to this matter being resolved as quickly and fairly as possible.”
UMB Bank became trustee of trusts belonging to Benton’s family in 1979, having promoted itself as a trustee of fine art collections.
Benton died in Kansas City on January 19, 1975 after a successful career as a painter known for his portrayals of Midwestern life in the 20th century. His work has been on display in prominent museums and institutions across the country, including the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Missouri capitol building.
According to the lawsuit, UMB Bank failed to keep detailed and accurate inventories of the property that the Benton estate transferred to trusts overseen by the bank. The bank allegedly also kept sales ledgers of Benton property that lacked key details, like sales prices, information about buyers or descriptions of what was sold.
UMB, the lawsuit says, has a document showing that the whereabouts of more than 100 pieces of Benton artwork and that of other artists is unknown, including a Benton drawing called Aunt Nina Lewis.
UMB is also said to have gifted Benton property without legal permission. One example the lawsuit cites is Desert Artist , a piece on display at the Kemper Museum of Modern Art in Kansas City, described as a gift from “Mr. and Mrs. R. Crosby Kemper Jr.,” the late UMB banking executive. The lawsuit said Desert Artist was bequeathed in Benton’s will to the Nelson Gallery Foundation, now the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
The Benton family also alleges that UMB failed to take numerous steps to increase revenue to the trust, such as obtaining and renewing proper copyrights for the artist’s collection as well as setting and collecting royalties for reproductions.
UMB Bank is also accused of selling work for less than what it could have fetched on the market. UMB is said to have sold in 1983 a full-sized painting called Forward Pass for $60,000 and then selling its lithographs afterwards.
That’s contrary to the practice of selling lithographs ahead of time to build up a market for the piece. The lawsuit said Benton’s daughter Jessie Benton told UMB to sell lithographs of Wyoming Autumn prior to the painting’s sale in 2015.
Wyoming Autumn sold for $1.5 million.
“Wyoming Autumn is a painting of lesser relative value than Forward Pass,” the lawsuit claims.
Other pieces under UMB’s supervision sold at private sales that could have attracted a higher value for the Benton trusts had they been sold at a public art auction, the lawsuit says.
Representing the Benton family in the lawsuit are Boyda and the law firms of Langdon & Emison and Withers, Brant, Igoe & Mullenix.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 12:51 PM.
