Page 112

“If they’re willing.”

“That changes the approach considerably.”

“I hoped it would.”

I lean back slightly and look through the ownership chronology again. “If your goal were formal restitution, I’d tell you that we’d need counsel involved from the beginning and a much deeper review of the original sale. If what you want is a discreet reacquisition, then the historical documentation still matters, but it becomes part of the negotiation rather than the beginning of a public dispute.”

“That’s precisely what I want.”

“We’d establish the strongest version of the provenance history first,” I explain. “We’d confirm the circumstances of the 1938 sale, make sure there aren’t any gaps in the later chain of title, determine exactly how the Kensington collection currently holds the work, and then approach the appropriate people privately.”

Charlotte nods. “There is one other object.”

She reaches into the portfolio and removes a second photograph.

This one shows a sapphire-and-diamond brooch, Art Deco in design, with a large central sapphire surrounded by geometric rows of diamonds.

“It belonged to my great-grandmother,” Charlotte says.

“It appears in the same prewar family inventory.”

“Was it sold at the same time?”

“Not exactly. The circumstances are less clear, but it left the family during the same period.”

“And it’s also in Kensington ownership?”

“We believe so.”

I study the image. “Do you want both objects pursued together?”

“If that makes strategic sense. The painting matters more, but if there is an opportunity to recover both through purchase, I would like to explore it.”

“That may depend on how they’re held,” I say.

“If they sit in different trusts or collection structures, they may require separate approvals even if the family considers them part of the same collection.”

Charlotte gives me another faint smile.

“This is why I wanted you.”

I set the photograph down. “Because I understand private collections?”

“Because you understand this private collection.”

Something in my chest tightens.

I keep my expression neutral.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

Charlotte reaches for another document and places it in front of me.

“I commissioned an independent provenance review last year,” she says.

“The researcher located references to the Reinhardt work in several archival indexes. One of those references led to an internal collection file prepared approximately seven years ago.”

I already know what she is going to say before she says it.