Bic Family Heirs Sue to Recover Fra Angelico After $5.4 Million Christie’s Sale
A small Renaissance panel once kept in a Bic heir’s New York apartment is now at the center of a high-stakes ownership fight that reaches from a family chauffeur to a blue-chip Old Masters dealer and a billionaire collector.
On March 19, heirs to the Bic family fortune filed suit in the Supreme Court for the State of New York seeking the return of “Saint Sixtus” (ca. 1453–55), a painting attributed to Italian artist Fra Angelico (ca. 1395–1455). The complaint alleges the work was stolen from the family by their chauffeur, Roy Morrow, and later sold through the market, culminating in a 2018 sale at Christie’s for $5.4 million.
Christie’s is not named as a defendant. The lawsuit instead targets the executors of the estate of dealer Richard L. Feigen, who died in 2021 and is alleged to have consigned the painting, as well as Chilean billionaire Álvaro Saieh and his wife, Ana Guzman, whom the heirs claim purchased the work at Christie’s.
According to the complaint, Bic founder Baron Marcel Bich acquired “Saint Sixtus” in 1972. After his death, the painting passed to his son Bruno, who displayed it in his New York apartment. The heirs allege that Morrow stole the work, and that Bruno did not know it had been taken, only that it had vanished. The suit further claims Bruno repeatedly questioned his wife, Veronique, about the painting’s disappearance, but never learned the circumstances of the alleged theft before his death.
The complaint contends that Morrow later approached Feigen, a prominent dealer known for Old Masters, to sell the painting. It alleges Morrow could not provide adequate documentation, but that Feigen proceeded anyway, described in the filing as being “willfully blinded by dollar signs.” The heirs claim Morrow sold the work for $3 million, which the suit characterizes as a “fire-sale price.”
The plaintiffs say they learned in 2023 that Saieh and Guzman owned the painting. The complaint references a 2024 investigation into the work’s whereabouts, though it does not detail how the heirs reached their conclusion or what that inquiry uncovered.
In a separate development that could complicate the narrative, the New York Police Department told Gothamist that no one reported the painting as stolen.
The lawsuit states that in 2024 the heirs demanded the painting’s return from Saieh and Guzman, and that the couple refused. The complaint argues that by retaining the work, they have “intentionally exercised dominion and control” over it in a manner inconsistent with the heirs’ rights.
Saieh, who reportedly owns more than 100 works dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, has previously mentioned owning a Fra Angelico. In a statement to Gothamist, Andrés Winter Salgado, general counsel for CorpGroup, the company run by Saieh, said: “We acquired the artwork from Christie’s in 2018, relying on the studies made by one of the world’s leading auction houses. We will take all necessary steps to vigorously protect our rights and will respond through the appropriate legal channels.”
The complaint also names collector Michael Steinhardt as a defendant in his alleged capacity as an executor of Feigen’s estate.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Luke Nikas, a lawyer for the Bic heirs, framed the case as both a restitution claim and a financial one: “Saieh possesses stolen artwork, and Feigen’s estate possesses funds Feigen wasn’t entitled to receive. They should do the right thing and turn over the painting and the funds to their rightful owners.”
The dispute underscores a familiar pressure point in the Old Masters market, where works can circulate privately for decades and documentation can be uneven, even as auction-house vetting and dealer expertise are treated as safeguards. The New York case will test how those assurances hold up when a family alleges a theft at the very start of the chain of custody.
