Lord Beaverbrook is seeking to dispel perceptions that he's a broke aristocrat willing to plunder a New Brunswick art gallery for financial gain.
Sir Max Aitken, current holder of the Lord Beaverbrook, is in Canada, fighting for control of 133 art objects at Fredericton's Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
His grandfather, the original Lord Beaverbrook, founded the gallery in 1959 and filled its walls with valuable paintings.
The gallery claims it has permanent custody of the works of art, worth more than $100 million. The Beaverbrook family insists the paintings belong to them and has spent the last three years fighting for them.
The dispute has been the subject of an arbitration hearing in Fredericton that began in October.
Aitken has argued that the works are only on loan to the gallery, and actually belong to the Beaverbrook U.K. Foundation, of which he serves as a trustee. The gallery claims the original Lord Beaverbrook, a British press baron who grew up in New Brunswick, gave the art to them as a gift.
But the arbitration has not been presented with a clear, unambiguous document clarifying the status of the works.
Aitken has said he wants to sell some of the paintings to raise funds to renovate the family estate, Cherkley Court, in Surrey, England.
But at least one witness in the arbitration has commented on Aitken's financial woes, noting that he declared bankruptcy several years ago, and his current money-making ventures include an online gambling website called "CheekyMoon.com."
Aitken strenuously disputes the notion he wants the money for his family.
"This is a lie that I want to put to bed right now," he told Canada AM Wednesday.
"These pictures are owned by the Beaverbrook Foundation, which is a major grant-giving charitable organization in the U.K. That is the legal owner of the pictures, and the estate is also owned by the Beaverbrook Foundation which has been renovated as a museum and a study centre and a conference centre.
"So there's no question of any benefit to my family or any individual connected to the Beaverbrook Foundation whatsoever."
Aitken says he has suggested selling some of the more expensive paintings simply to generate money so the gallery could buy more art works to display.
One painting that could go on the block would be "Hotel Bedroom" by Lucian Freud, one of the most critically respected British artists currently alive. That painting could be worth as much as $5 million.
The other is "The Fountain of Indolence" by British artist J.M.W. Turner. Its estimated value is $25 million.
The gallery's other treasures include works by such world-renowned artists as Salvador Dali, Lucien Freud, Botticelli and Cornelius Krieghoff.
Peter Cory, a retired Supreme Court of Canada justice, is the arbitrator in the case. A decision is expected sometime in March.
With files from The Canadian Press
