Before his death in 2006, the father of Little Rock restaurateur Capi Peck wrote her letters expressing his desire for her to own his multimillion-dollar sculpture by Alexander Calder.
Little Rock attorney Byron Southern told the Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday that Robert Peck planned to give the piece to his daughter, but kept it to display in his home. Instead of going to Capi Peck after his death, the piece was passed along to his trust and sold at auction by Sotheby’s for $3.7 million.
“The question is the intent of the grantor, and in this case, Bob Peck made his intent very clear,” said Southern, who represents Capi Peck, 60.
The sculpture, which Southern said is titled Autumn Leaves, was created by Calder and purchased by Capi Peck’s grandparents in the 1950s for $1,500.
Capi Peck’s grandfather, Sam Peck, owned the Sam Peck Hotel in downtown Little Rock, which he later sold to the Radisson hotel chain.
Southern described the artwork as being about the “size of a couch” and containing several pieces of metal arranged as a mobile.
Calder is recognized as one of the founders of kinetic and stationary mobiles, according to the Calder Foundation, which was established in 1987 to promote his work.
The piece was passed down to Robert Peck, who began discussing giving it to Capi Peck in the early 2000s, Southern told the court.
In a letter in 2001, Robert Peck wrote, “I give to Capi [Peck] my Caulder artwork. I retain the right to display it during my lifetime.”
Three years later, in another letter, Robert Peck wrote, “I have not allocated where I want various pieces of furniture and artwork to go with the exception of the Calder Mobile which I have given to my daughter Capi.”
Robert Peck kept possession of the artwork, showing it in his house, until he died on May 10, 2006, in Maui, Hawaii.
After his death, Peck’s wife, Hannah Peck, claimed the sculpture as part of her husband’s trust. Hannah Peck married Robert Peck in 1975.
On Nov. 14, 2007, the piece was auctioned off by Sotheby’s in New York for $3,737,000.
In October 2010, Capi Peck filed a lawsuit against Hannah Peck as trustee of the trust in Pulaski County Circuit Court, seeking damages for the sale of the sculpture.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen ruled in favor of the trust and wrote in an order dated Sept. 13, 2012, that Robert Peck never relinquished control of the sculpture. By displaying it in his house, Griffen wrote, Robert Peck “lacked the intent to make an immediate, present, and final gift.”
Griffen also ordered Capi Peck to pay Hannah Peck’s attorney’s fees, totaling $38,515.36.
Richard Hatfield, a Little Rock attorney representing Hannah Peck, told the three judge panel hearing the case that Griffen was correct in finding that a gift was never made. Robert Peck maintained control and ownership over the artwork because he never “delivered” it to his daughter, he said.
“He might have thought he had given it [away], but under the law he didn’t because he still had possession,” Hatfield said.
Hatfield said the piece instead was passed on to Hannah Peck through her husband’s trust before she had it sold at auction.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/31/2013