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Hong Kong

Brothers in legal wrangle over father's precious art collection

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Patsy Moy

Two sons of a late collector of precious artworks have become embroiled in a legal dispute over the proceeds of their father's collections auctioned by Sotheby's.

Winston Kao, a son of late collector Kao Ling-mai, has filed a High Court writ against his brother John Kao Kim.

Their father was a famous photographer who set up a photography and art business in a Tsim Sha Tsui shop in 1971. The man, who had 11 children, was a close friend of Chinese artist Zhang Daqian. He also collected Zhang's works.

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Kao Ling-mai died in 1993. Before his death, he had more than 120 artworks classified under a "special collection" and over 100 others by Zhang and other famous artists, the writ stated.

In 1995, Kao Ling-mai's wife died without a will. Winston Kao then claimed he was using the Tsim Sha Tsui shop to do business.

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But in 2005, John Kao and eight other siblings lodged a complaint against their brother over the property.

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