ART DEALER’S DEBTS

Evening Star, Issue 19786, 9 February 1928, Page 4

ART DEALER’S DEBTS

UPS AND DOWNS IN LIFE £12,500 FOR £2OO PAINTING. How an art dealer made a fortune through the purchase of an “ Old Master ” was revea led at the Old Bailey in the course of the trial of Nathan Van Slochei aged twenty-five, on a charge of removing part of his property within twelve months of a bankruptcy petition against him. The son of a Dutchman who came to London and established an art business, Van Slochem early acquired a knowledge, of paintings. In 1924 he was offered the portrait of an old lady, which the vendor attributed to Rembrandt. He bought the picture for £2OO. It was sent to an expert for examination, and was discovered to be one of the best examples of the work of another great artist, Franz Hals. Within a few months Van Slochem had sold it for £12,500. Since then the painting is understood to have been ar • red by a collector for no less a sum Hlian £20,000. In spite of this good fortune, Van Slochem got into_ financial difficulties. Ho attributed this very lamely to a speculation in Kingsbury House, St. James's, the leasehold of which was acquired for £51,500. It, was stated that he was left to complete the purchase when his father died. In June, 1926, he was made bankrupt, with liabilities of £8,282, and assets of £1,585. Van Slochem left England for Cuba, taking with him £755, which, the prosecution alleged, belonged to his creditors. His object was to make money in the land boom, and he admitted living at the rate of £3OO a month. His money soon went, and he returned to England with £5 in his pocket. He was then arrested. A friend who gave evidence on his behalf made the remarkable statement that Van Slochem had the mentality of a man of forty when lie was only nine years old, but since then he had gone back intellectually. As a youth he was highly educated and an accomplished linguist. Judge Atherlcy-Jones, K.C., passed a sentence of two months’ imprisonment in the second division, and observed that if the, £755 he had taken to Cuba had been placed at the disposal of his creditors it would have, been a mere drop in the ocean of his liabilities. Sir Henry Curtis Bennett, K.C., who was leading counsel for the defence, intimated that A r an Slochem would appeal.