An Oscar-nominated Italian film producer says his Croatian movie star ex-wife swiped a $1 million Jean-Michel Basquiat painting from the home they once shared, according to a new lawsuit.
Vittorio Cecchi Gori — who produced the hit foreign film “Life Is Beautiful” and was later tossed in jail over a bankruptcy scandal — bought the quirky art, “Wine of Babylon,” at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in Chelsea in 1988 for $330,000, according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in LA on April 16.
“Wine of Babylon”Photo: Jean-Michel Basquiat
He assigned the colorful oil painting a to his film company GG Productions but kept it at his home in Rome, where he once lived with gorgeous actress-model Rita Rusic, as the painting spiked in value, the lawsuit states.
But when the couple’s romance went south and they divorced in 2000, she “wrongfully stole” the 7-by-5
Article source: http://pagesix.com/2015/04/29/film-producer-claims-ex-wife-stole-1m-basquiat-painting/