scandal after claiming to be the rightful owner of a stolen masterpiece worth millions of dollars.

And retired stockbroker Robin Judah is now being sued by an American widow after it was disclosed that he claimed to be the owner of a missing Jackson Pollock canvas.

`Composition with Pouring 1', is currently on loan from Mr. Judah at London's Tate Gallery as part of a retrospective exhibition of the painter's work.

But artist and teacher Mercedes Matter, of New York, claims that the artist gave the canvas to her and her husband as a wedding present in 1943. The work was then stolen from the couple two years later.

And she has now issued a writ against Mr. Judah in a bid to get the painting back.

Her lawyer, Kerry Gotlib, said that Mrs. Matter, 87, discovered that the painting had resurfaced last year and was on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. She took out a Supreme Court order to force the museum to release the name of the owner and then filed a writ to get the painting back.

But last night Mr. Judah, who has lived on the Island since 1975, told The Royal Gazette that he had purchased the painting nearly 35 years ago from "a reputable London gallery''.

And his attorneys have now asked that a London court make the final decision over who the rightful owner is.

"Mrs. Matter says that certain facts took place 20 years before that of which I have no knowledge,'' he said from his Pembroke home. "I obviously had no inkling that there was anything in the history of the picture which would challenge my ownership. I bought it in 1965 from a reputable gallery who represented Jackson Pollock's estate.

"Now Mrs. Matters suddenly enters my life and says that the picture was given to her more than 50 years ago.

"But she's quite unable to satisfy my lawyers and there's no evidence to say it's true. She's making all sorts of allegations which cannot be supported.

"It's now up to the court to decide. I would like it sorted one way or the other and if she can substantiate what she says then I have every sympathy for her.'' But Mr. Gotlib hit back, accusing Mr. Judah of "taking the low road''.

And he insisted that once a work of art is reported stolen, there was no way of claiming subsequent ownership.

"The family of Mrs. Matter is appalled, simply appalled at Mr. Judah's behaviour in this matter,'' he said.

"Rather than attempting to resolve the fact that this is a stolen painting, Mr. Judah is actually using British attornies in a London court to challenge Mrs. Matter's ownership.

"On behalf of Mrs. Matter I would tell Robin Judah that we will bring the full force of international law and we will fight his fraudulent claims of ownership of this stolen painting in any necessary court venue, whether it is in New York, Bermuda or London.''