A trove of almost 200 artworks by Hunter Biden has been destroyed — one of many casualties of the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, The Put up has discovered.
The controversial artwork had been in storage close to the Pacific Palisades house of Hunter’s Hollywood legal professional Kevin Morris and is valued at “tens of millions of {dollars},” a supply near the Biden household stated.
Morris, who loaned the primary son almost $5 million to assist pay a tax invoice and has been financing a documentary on him, lives in a sprawling five-bedroom, six-bathroom house which is among the many few homes nonetheless intact within the posh neighborhood, The Put up can verify.
Morris couldn’t be reached for remark Wednesday.
Final week, because the fires started to rage, President Biden stated his son’s house in close by Malibu should be intact. “At this time, it seems that it’s nonetheless standing. They’re undecided.”
A lawyer for Hunter Biden, who’s a self-taught artist who turned to portray whereas in restoration from drug habit, didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
A Soho gallerist who represented the primary son’s work and had organized solo reveals of his work in Los Angeles and New York from 2021 stated he broke ties with Hunter final yr.
“I don’t know what’s taking place with the artwork,” stated gallery proprietor Georges Berges. “I’ve a few of his work on canvas, some metallic items on the gallery.”
Hunter’s artwork items have been priced as excessive as $500,000 every, though Berges informed The Put up the typical value was nearer to $85,000.
Morris purchased $875,000 price of Hunter’s artworks through Berges, a lot of them of flowers on Japanese paper, he stated.
Berges informed a congressional panel investigating the Biden household’s belongings final yr that Hunter knew the individuals who purchased most of his artwork, regardless of assurances from the White Home that consumers can be saved secret to keep away from a battle of curiosity with the president.
Along with Morris, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali was named as one other purchaser. She obtained works earlier than and after scoring a prestigious presidential appointment, in response to experiences.
Hunter Biden was issued a controversial pardon by his father on gun and tax evasion crimes final month.