After four years, retiree's lost art turns up -- on the dealer's wall

Rosemary Maxwell lives in a group home in Kenmore, her possessions stuffed into one small room. She supports herself on Social Security.

When she was younger, Maxwell, who is now 79, assembled a collection of artwork from renowned artists such as Dale Chihuly, Marc Chagall and Joan Miró. She hoped the art would be her retirement nest egg.

A few miles away, a chunk of Maxwell's nest egg — a Chihuly graphic — was hanging last week on the dining-room wall of William J. Ellis. Maxwell has never received payment for the artwork, and until the graphic was spotted by a Seattle Times reporter Jan. 4 had no idea of its whereabouts.

Four years ago, on the advice of an acquaintance, Maxwell signed a contract with Ellis, an art dealer, allowing him to sell 12 pieces of art valued at a total of $64,200. Three were sold through the Davidson Gallery in Pioneer Square, but the remaining nine pieces of art, with a value estimated by Ellis of $44,700, have not been returned to Maxwell. Nor has she received any payment for the nine.

What happened to the Chihuly, a Chagall lithograph, a Kenneth Callahan oil and others remained a mystery until last week, when the Times reporter knocked on the door of Ellis' Redmond condominium and saw the colorful Chihuly in the dining room.

Ellis, who was surprised by the reporter's visit, said he had sold four of Maxwell's other artworks — the Chagall, Miró, Callahan and a Kiyoshi Saito — but he had not sold the Chihuly.

According to the contract Ellis agreed he had signed with Maxwell, the value of the four artworks he sold is $37,000. He said he hadn't gotten around to paying Maxwell her share over the past four years because he and his wife "were just busy with our lives and running a business." He insisted last week that he would reimburse Maxwell within 90 days.

He declined to say what prices he sold the artworks for.

The whereabouts of four other works remains a mystery: a pen-and-oil by Capozio, two signed lithographs by Alvar, and a still-life monoprint — total value estimated in the contract at $5,500.

The King County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether Maxwell is the victim of a crime.

Maxwell believes she is. When told that Ellis had promised to pay her for the art in 90 days, she said he "doesn't get 90 days. He's had four years."

Seeking help

Maxwell once filled the walls of her home in Mill Creek with art. She was a teacher, and her husband was a manager with a cosmetics company. They took trips to Europe and collected art. But as the couple grew older, both became increasingly frail.

Maxwell is now legally separated from her husband, who lives in a nursing home. They had no children, and Maxwell turned to people she hoped were friends to help sell off their belongings, including their art collection. They needed the money.

An acquaintance of Maxwell's, Jeffrey Angwin, acted as an intermediary.

Angwin said he took 12 pieces of Maxwell's artwork to Ellis, whom he had bought from in the past. Maxwell said Angwin told her that Ellis could get more money for her paintings than the Davidson Gallery, which had expressed an interest in her collection.

She signed a consignment agreement with Ellis — stating he would get half the money from each piece he sold for Maxwell — in March 2004 but never met him.

"I've been a customer of his, and I was turned on to him by another friend," Angwin told The Times. "I did extensive research and [Maxwell] was desperate for money."

Davidson Gallery owner Sam Davidson said he first became aware of Maxwell's prints when Angwin sent him a list of the 12 pieces to ask if he was interested in purchasing them. Davidson said he was especially interested in Maxwell's Chagall lithograph, which a California gallery had appraised at $10,500 in 1987.

Davidson said Angwin had told him that Maxwell had decided not to sell it. The gallery did sell three of the artworks, and Angwin took the remaining works.

The gallery sent a check to Angwin for $2,196.60 in August 2005 for the sale of a Hockney-Pool lithograph, according to Davidson.

Angwin's attorney, Scott Clement, said Angwin gave Maxwell the entire amount. "I was trying to help her," Angwin said.

The gallery also wrote a check to Maxwell for $516.43 last February for less-expensive pieces it sold on eBay.

"I trusted them"

Maxwell still has a copy of her agreement to let Ellis sell her art. The document has no letterhead, no phone, address or other contact information for Ellis. It was typed on a blank piece of paper and had only a fax number, purportedly for Angwin.

"Your art collection is very interesting and there is a strong market now. We have people interested in the Chagall and the Kiyoshi Saito as soon as we can get started," Ellis wrote in the agreement. "We will pay you each time an art work is sold."

Ellis said the visit from the reporter came at a good time because he was planning to get a loan from Bank of America to reimburse Maxwell for what he owed her.

"I never met her," Ellis said. "I didn't know where to send the money." He said he did not contact Angwin to try to find out.

"I was stupid," Maxwell now says in hindsight. "I trusted them because I thought [Ellis and Angwin] were friends."

Concerned about the whereabouts of the nine pieces of art she never received payment for, Maxwell says she spent months trying to find Ellis. She assumed he had an art gallery and went to an address given to her by Angwin, her acquaintance. The address was an apartment, but Ellis didn't live there.

Angwin told The Times that he placed numerous calls to Ellis, which were never returned. He also said he contacted the King County Sheriff's Office, but was told it was up to Maxwell to contact police. She finally did in September. Failing to find any trace of her art or Ellis, Maxwell called The Times.

Ellis told The Times he has never owned a gallery but works as an art dealer. Business records show Ellis and his wife, Lourdes, owned a business called A R K Art Consultants from 1988 to 1992.

According to the state Department of Revenue, Ellis appears to have no current business license. But he told The Times he still spends 12 hours daily working as an art dealer out of his home.

"She's very ... trusting"

Maxwell's sister-in-law, Susie Carlstrom, who has power of attorney over Maxwell's affairs, knew nothing about the consignment deal.

"She's very gullible and trusting," said Carlstrom, who lives in Idaho and has minimal contact with Maxwell. She said Maxwell has some dementia but "she was a brilliant woman in her prime."

When the newspaper contacted Angwin and his wife, both became angry. They said they had tried to help Maxwell and that she had been ungrateful and vindictive. Angwin said he sent a letter to Maxwell in April in response to her phone calls asking about her missing art.

He told her he had given her all the information he had about Ellis and her art, and that he did "so regret all of these difficulties" she was having.

But Maxwell said she could not understand why he couldn't locate Ellis again.

Some art is still missing

Angwin said Ellis returned several of Maxwell's pieces of art to him and he turned them over to a gallery in Pioneer Square.

But Angwin said he could not remember which gallery the art was sent to, which pieces of art were sent there, or when this happened. He said he gave all the documentation to Maxwell and whenever he tried to contact Ellis, his calls weren't returned.

Lee Adams, the county detective assigned to Maxwell's case, said it's too early in the investigation to tell if the missing art is a civil or criminal matter.

He and an investigator from state Adult Protective Services are going through Maxwell's financial documents looking for payments and deposits to gain a better understanding of how much money she may be owed for the sale of her art.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com