MOSCOW, May 13 (RAPSI) - A New York state court has ordered art dealer Gary Tatintsian to pay $2.6 million to Malevich collector Lev Nussberg over a disputed agreement over a large quantity of avant garde Russian art, according to court documents released last week.

Nussberg was billed in the initial summons, filed in December 2009, as an artist, art historian, and collector. According to the documents, he began to establish an expertise in Suprematism, a style of Russian art spearheaded by Kazimir Malevich in the early 20th century. Toward this end, searched far and wide for the works of Malevich and his followers, and began to develop relationships with the pioneers of Suprematism.

The summons credits Nussberg with having revived the public’s fascination with Suprematism both in Russia and abroad: “As a result of Nussberg’s many years of devoted and tireless toil to promote the Suprematists, the Suprematists have had a great revival not only in Russia but throughout the world.”

Nussberg was introduced to Tatintsian in 2004. According to the summons, the latter was interested in contributing to Russia’s avant garde art boom by exhibiting and selling Suprematist works in his Moscow gallery.

In late April 2006, Nussberg agreed to sell Tatintsian 95 Suprematist works for $3 million, to be paid in separate installments. According to the summons, Tatintsian failed to pay out $800,000 of the money owed, and an additional $1,065,500 had accrued in interest by that time.

In November 2007, Nussberg and Tatintsian entered into a consignment agreement whereby the former consigned to the latter 11 Malevich drawings for a total amount of $752,000. According to the summons, Nussberg was to receive either a formally agreed-upon fee for each painting, or each painting would be returned. Nussberg claimed that he had received neither payment nor return of these works.

Despite the fact that neither of the two prior agreements had - according to the summons – been satisfied, Tatintsian sought more Suprematist works in 2009, this time with threats to expose sensitive information to the US tax authorities. The summons claimed that the threats drove Nussberg to agree to sell 98 Suprematist works for $2.6 million – well below the market value of $5.6 million.

According to the summons, Tatintsian materially altered the written agreement when Nussberg’s son Ivan delivered the last of the works to the former’s New York loft. These alterations allegedly swapped the terms “to sell/purchase” with “on consignment,” and shifted the dates of payment.

According to court documents filed later, Tatintsian ultimately entered into a contract with an individual in Russia to sell the works at issue in the 2009 contract. Tatintsian then purportedly sought information from Nussberg on how to wire funds to him. Nussberg did not respond, and filed the present action shortly thereafter.

On April 30, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County granted summary judgment on Nussberg’s claim for $2.6 million under the 2009 contract, finding, “Given that the artwork has been sold, Nussberg is contractually entitled to be paid. The court grants summary judgment to Nussberg for the $2.6 million due under the 2009 Contract, although the Tatintsian defendants may be entitled to set-offs.”

The court added, however, that Nussberg’s claims seeking rescission of the 2009 Contract must be dismissed, due to its decision to enforce the agreement.

The decision related only to the 2009 contract as Nussberg had not moved for summary judgment on claims arising from the 2006 or 2007 contracts.