The war between a French artist and restaurateur Nello Balan over ownership of 11 pieces of art hanging in his tony Hamptons eatery escalated yesterday with new criminal charges and mutual orders of protection.
Balan filed a criminal complaint against Jerome Lucani in Southampton, charging him with aggravated harassment for allegedly threatening during a phone conversation in August to burn down Nello Summertimes.
Saying he fears for his safety, Lucani filed for an order of protection against Balan yesterday after alleging that the fiery Romanian threatened to kill him if he didn’t back off his demand for the return of the celebrity collages.
Not to be outdone, Balan’s lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., said yesterday that his client also plans to file for his own order of protection against Lucani because of his alleged arson threat.
“At this point, I’m getting more and more scared,” Lucani said after filing paperwork in Southampton.
Lucani said that Balan asked him to create 11 collages for his Hamptons location in February in exchange for a 40 percent cut of sales.
Lucani said Balan agreed to and eventually did pay him roughly $50,000 in production costs.
But Lucani charges that Balan eventually claimed that he developed the concept for the collages and backed out of their deal.
“He was telling people that he made them himself,” Lucani said. “It was unbelievable.”
Lucani said Balan demanded a $500,000 fee just to allow the artist a 50 percent share of any future collages. “He wanted me to give him money for everything I did in the future,” he said.
Balan told The Post last week that he did come up with the collage concept and paid Lucani in full for simply executing them as a “technician.”
The collages – meticulously arranged photos that combine to create images of celebrities – dominate the walls of the eatery.
Those depicted include Paris Hilton, Audrey Hepburn and Queen Elizabeth.
Lucani said he worked 18-hour days to have the 11 pieces ready for the opening weekend of summer and was forced to shelve other artistic opportunities.
The dispute boiled over during an August confrontation at the restaurant when Lucani claims Balan threatened to kill him, a charge Balan has denied.
Burke said that Lucani was paid in full for making the collages and that the pieces – which were still visible yesterday inside Summertimes – are owned fully by his client.