Billionaire Sues Over Picasso

Bloomberg reports that Billionaire Stephen Wynn, chairman of gaming company Wynn Resorts Ltd., sued Lloyd's of London after submitting a claim for $54 million he lost by accidentally tearing his 75-year-old Pablo Picasso painting 'Le Reve.' Wynn is seeking documents related to the insurer's appraisal of the work, worth $139 million before it was damaged Sept. 30. An art restorer said the repaired painting is worth $85 million, a complaint filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court said. The casino owner said he hasn't been paid yet or received a counter-offer from the 300-year-old insurance market. He is seeking to compel Lloyd's to surrender its documents appraising the loss. His lawyer, Barry Slotnick, said Wynn may later sue to recover his financial loss if Lloyd's refuses to pay $54 million. 'We do believe we're entitled to the loss,' Slotnick said in an interview. ``We have been waiting.' Wynn, who suffers from an eye disease that affects his peripheral vision, struck the art work with his right elbow while showing it to friends in his Las Vegas office. He left a silver dollar size hole in the left forearm of the painting's subject, Picasso's mistress Marie-Theresa Walter, Slotnick said. Wynn paid $48.4 million for the painting in 1997 and had agreed to sell it to art collector Steven Cohen, for $139 million, Slotnick said. The accident was witnessed by screenwriter Nora Ephron, Barbara Walters and writer Nicholas Pileggi, according to the lawyer. Irish Art