After a five-month trial with 67 witnesses, 3,700 exhibits and a transcript of more than 14,000 pages, a Jackson County Circuit Court judge ruled that UMB Bank did not breach its duty to the famous Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton, who left his vast art collection in the bank’s care.
“UMB is thrilled with the judgment entered by Judge Mark Styles,” said UMB Financial Corporation Chief Legal Officer Amy Harris in a statement. “From the beginning, we stood firm in our belief that Crosby Kemper and the UMB associates who worked on this Trust for over 40 years acted with integrity and in the best interests of the Trust.”
Benton’s daughter, Jessie Benton, and her three children sued in 2019, seeking $85 million and claiming UMB lost track of more than 100 pieces of Benton’s art, engaged in self-dealing and sold pieces for less than their market value.
The Benton family claimed UMB sold artwork to insiders at discounts, sold other pieces without approval, poorly appraised the value of the collection and failed to monetize Benton’s estate through copyrights and licenses.
The judge found that the evidence established that UMB, as a trustee, stayed within the parameters of the customs and norms of the banking industry, even as those customs and norms shifted during its more than 40-year administration of the Benton Trust.
The family argued that a conflict of interest darkened UMB’s 1986 sale of “Persephone” to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for $2.5 million. At the time of the sale, UMB’s former chairman and a prominent Kansas City civic leader, the late Crosby Kemper, Jr., and another member of UMB’s board of directors also served on the Nelson-Atkins Museum board.
However, the judge found that no evidence was submitted to show that Kemper, UMB or the Nelson-Atkins Museum received any personal or institutional benefit from the sale of “Persephone.”
“The notion that UMB undersold Benton’s artwork while serving as trustee of the Benton Trust is ultimately unfounded,” Judge Mark Styles said in the 59-page written opinion. “The evidence established that UMB’s sales of Benton’s artwork outperformed the broader Benton Market worldwide and that UMB’s practices with respect to appraising and selling Benton’s artwork were in keeping with the customs of the time.”
Benton created more than 3,500 pieces of artwork during his lifetime that were distributed to the Benton Trust following his death.
The judge ruled that there were only five works UMB could not account for during UMB’s administration of the Benton Trust. The works were not paintings, but were likely sketches or studies. The works’ current locations are unknown. They may have been in the possession of Benton’s family, placed on loan or consignment with a gallery or sold and not properly accounted for. Based on the evidence, the judge awarded the heirs $35,000.
The family’s lawyers are considering an appeal.
"We are disappointed by the Court's decision and are currently considering all our options,” said Kent Emison of the Langdon & Emison law firm, which brought the suit on the Bentons’ behalf. “Despite the decision from this trial, we still strongly believe in the merits of the case for the Benton family.”
Steve Leben, a law professor at the UMKC School of Law who was not involved with the case, said the decision appears to rigorously follow Missouri law with respect to trustees’ financial duty, and that the chances of a successful appeal appear slim.
“For the most part, the trial judge rejected the heir’s claims that there were conflicts of interest,” Leben said after reviewing the verdict. “They claimed that Crosby Kemper had used the Benton artworks for his personal benefit. The trial judge rejected that entirely and noted that Kemper himself was an expert in the art area and was knowledgeable about how to buy, sell and store art.”
Leben said that a trust gives the trustee a lot of discretion.
“The trustee has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries,” Leben said. “This court found, after hearing 74 days of evidence, that they hadn't shown any breach of that underlying basic duty.”
UMB Financial Corporation Chairman and CEO Mariner Kemper said the court’s decision was vindicating not just for the company, but for his father and his legacy.
“From the beginning of this dispute, the plaintiffs and their lawyers have made a number of baseless allegations which this decision unequivocally disproves,” Kemper said in a statement.
UMB filed a civil racketeering case against the Benton family in response to the heirs’ lawsuit, but a judge threw that out in 2022.
Benton died in 1975. His wife, Rita Benton, died the same year, less than three months later.
Thomas Hart Benton, who worked out of his home studio in Kansas City's Roanoke neighborhood, was a prolific painter and one of the country's most famous muralists.
“UMB was tasked by Benton to help grow and establish his legacy as a world renowned artist after his death,” Judge Styles concluded in the verdict. “The evidence established UMB accomplished Benton’s wishes and desires.”
