THE ART OF THE DEAL

Sean Parker of Facebook and Napster Fame Embroiled in Lawsuit Over $6M Rubens Painting

Sean Parker bought a work by Peter Paul Rubens for $6 million in 2018. But now the owner said she withdrew it from auction.

The former owner of a $6 million painting by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens wants her painting back from Sean Parker, the billionaire who was Facebook’s founding president, the New York Post reports. Debra Turner, a resident of San Diego, consigned A Satyr Holding a Basket of Grapes and Quinces With a Nymph to Christie’s in 2018. Parker bought it from the auction house the same year on behalf of his nonprofit foundation. But Turner claims in court documents obtained by the Post that she had actually pulled the painting from the auction block. According to those same legal filings, an arbitrator ruled that her contract with Christie’s didn’t allow her retract her offer. Christie’s submitted the arbitration to federal court on April 20 to affirm the arbitrator’s ruling, which would allow Parker’s foundation to retrieve its purchase.