It was a picture-perfect arrangement.
As the girlfriend of internationally renowned art collector Udo Brandhorst, gallery curator Venetia Kapernekas lived the good life, even receiving $1 million from him as a gift.
A few years later, Kapernekas gave Udo a gift of her own — a daughter.
But the pair’s lovey-dovey relationship eventually went south — and both sides had been duking it out in court over everything from custody of their child to $40 million worth of controversial modern art they each claim to own.
Yesterday, the battle finally came to an end, with a wide-ranging settlement in Manhattan court.
Kapernekas had sued Brandhorst on the financial end after she said she gave him money to buy two pieces of Damien Hirst art as an investment for her — and he then decided to hold on to them when their value skyrocketed more than tenfold in just six years.
But Brandhorst maintained that the two pieces — an untitled art installation of a pill cabinet and a massive sculpture called “Hymn” — were his.
The pair reached a settlement on the artwork — as well as custody of their 6-year-old daughter — just as jury selection was to begin.
The details of the agreement were confidential. But Brandhorst’s lawyer, Benjamin Rosenberg, said that as far as the artworks are concerned, he gets to keep them. The works are currently on display in his sprawling new museum in Germany.
Kapernekas’ suit says she and the Bavarian bigwig “entered into a personal relationship” in 1997, and two years later, he gave her a $1 million gift.
In 2002, she then gave birth to their daughter.
Kapernekas, who was living in Brandhorst’s SoHo apartment, told him she wanted to put the money in real estate — but he told her he’d invest it in some art on her behalf, the filings say.
Brandhorst used $825,000 of her money and more than $2 million of his own to buy the two works but never told her what he’d purchased.
Then it all went sour for the two and Kapernekas filed for sole custody of their daughter, later withdrawing the petition at the request of Brandhorst, who was paying her $20,000 a month in support, the suit says.
By 2007, Kapernekas decided she wanted to cash in her investment, but it wasn’t until after she filed suit last year that she discovered her cash had gone to buy works by Hirst, a wildly successful modern artist who’s now considered the richest artist in the world.
Kapernekas’ side said they are now worth $40 million.
Brandhorst says he told Kapernekas he needed her cash to buy art for himself and that he’s been repaying it — and then some — ever since. His filings say that between 2002 and 2008, he paid her $3.4 million.