O'Neill v. De Laney

In this action for declaratory judgment (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 110, par. 57.1) plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment that he is the owner of a valuable painting. Essentially, plaintiff maintains that the painting was sold to him by James Paul DeLaney on August 18, 1970. A cloud over plaintiff's title was created in 1974 when defendant Jeannette DeLaney, in her divorce action against her husband James Paul DeLaney, claimed special equities in the painting as marital property. Plaintiff filed this action to end that controversy. Following a bench trial, the trial court found the purported sale of the painting from James Paul DeLaney to plaintiff was void because of inadequate consideration and lack of delivery. On appeal from that judgment, Jeannette DeLaney is the sole appellee. Defendants were married on January 17, 1953. Approximately three to five years later, they acquired a painting allegedly the work of Peter Paul Rubens and entitled Hunting of the Caledonian Boar (hereinafter the painting). This painting was a part of the art collection acquired by the defendants during their marriage. In 1966, defendants moved into an apartment building in which the plaintiff and his wife resided. The two couples soon became friends. Jeannette DeLaney characterized the friendship between plaintiff and her husband as casual for the next four years. After 1970, however, she noticed that plaintiff and her husband had become close friends, and in fact, the two couples went on a vacation together.