Croatian town set to sell off Charles Billich stolen art
Artist Charles Billich suspects his offer to buy back paintings ‘stolen’ in his Croatian birthplace has been cynically exploited by officials readying the collection for auction.
Celebrity artist Charles Billich suspects his offer to buy back paintings “stolen” in his Croatian birthplace has been cynically exploited by officials readying the pricey collection for auction.
Billich, 88, and his socialite wife, Christa, are appealing to Lovran Municipality in the country’s west to honour a commitment by the local mayor to end the 15-year dispute and negotiate a settlement with them.
After a flurry of contact through an intermediary, Melbourne filmmaker Steve Ravic, the line to Lovran has gone dead, stoking concern that the deal they thought they had secured was a contrivance.
Croatian newspaper Novi list reported last week that the council would sell to the highest bidder 32 Billich oil paintings and artworks – all that remains of the $2m-plus cache it seized in 2008 in lieu of claimed non-payment of taxes and rent by the Sydneysiders.
The couple insist this was a sham when Billich, attempting to do right by the hometown he fled as a young man persecuted by the communist regime in then-Yugoslavia, had paid for the restoration of a maritime museum and filled it with 87 of his own artworks. In return, he had been given a 10-year waiver on municipal fees, they say.
To add insult to injury, Novi list reported that the proceeds of the planned auction would go to repairing a kindergarten occupying part of the museum site.
Mr Ravic’s calls and emails to Lovran Mayor Bojan Simonic to clarify the situation have gone unanswered. The Weekend Australian also attempted to reach Mr Simonic this week without success.
“Am I surprised? Sadly no,” a frustrated Billich said on Friday. “This is just history repeating. The old communist guard is still there in Croatia … like a chameleon it’s just changed colours. In their hearts they’re still living under Soviet-style Bolshevism where those in authority commit injustice all the time with impunity.”
Mr Ravic, who made a documentary on Billich’s escape in the 1950s and the colourful new life he forged in Australia, said: “This was a set up all along for them to buy time to keep control of the artworks. It’s a continuation of what’s been happening all along.”
Last November, after years of refusing to engage with Billich and his wife, who runs their gallery in Sydney and controls the art he produces, the municipality finally agreed to enter negotiations with Mr Ravic and forwarded a catalogue of the 32 pieces still in its possession. This ranged from oil paintings to sketches and mixed-media illustrations. The Billiches wanted only the prime oils, valued at more than $50,000 each, and were willing to settle on a price. At the same time, Mr Simonic told this masthead: “I personally think that the municipality has no interest in keeping them.”
Mr Ravic said he was promised the Billiches would have first refusal over the disputed art. “On November 11, 2022, we again confirmed with the Municipality of Lovran of our intention to acquire these paintings at their specified valuations and expressed that we were concerned over the wording of their offer which implied there would be a public auction,” he said.
Billich said he remained determined “to fight for what is legally and rightfully mine”.
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