The widow of a wealthy Greek shipping heir doesn’t have to turn over a valuable art collection — including a Matisse — to a facility for safekeeping while she dukes it out in court with her own son over who owns the works, a judge ruled Thursday.
Tara Kulukundis’ son, Manuel, sued his mom in 2016 to block her from selling any of his late dad’s collection — including pieces from Edgar Degas and El Greco.
The son’s lawyer, Jonathan Jeremias, argued in Manhattan court that while the pair fight over the masterpieces — which the son insists belong to a trust and the mom says were gifted directly to her by her late husband, Michael — they should be moved to Sotheby’s or a similar facility equipped to store the collection.
Jeremias argued that the mom has been cramming the uninsured artwork in a 1,000-sq.-ft. Sutton Place pad since she was booted from her four-times larger Pierre hotel apartment last year. And she may try to sell pieces to a dealer in France, he claimed.
Jeremias also claimed she “was cited for excessive smoking,” which could damage the art.
“The place where the artwork is stored now is fully inadequate,” he argued.
But Tara’s lawyer, William Pinzler, said “she hasn’t moved to some slum. She moved to an apartment on the Upper East Side.”
“This is a dispute between a son and mother and the son hates the mother,” Pinzler told the judge.
Justice Louis Nock ruled that Tara could continue to hold the art while the case is pending but warned if she tries to sell any of it, “she is in contempt with the court and I will remand her.”
Neither Tara — who appeared on the hit ’70s TV show “Charlie’s Angels” and in the theater production of “Foreplay” — nor her son were present in court.
Both lawyers declined to comment outside court.