Self-dealing, conflicts of interest alleged in UMB Bank's handling of Thomas Hart Benton estate

The Missouri artist’s descendants charge that UMB Bank, Benton estate trustees, mismanaged artwork in its care, even selling pieces without permission and below their true value.
In 2002, then-UMB chairman R. Crosby Kemper Jr. showed Kansas City businesswoman Shirley Helzberg around a vault that contained artist Thoma Hart Benton’s vast art collection. Helzberg, whose husband Barnett Helzberg ran the Helzberg Diamonds enterprise and was a UMB director at the time, chose eight pieces of Benton’s collection she wished to purchase.

She later bought the pieces for a price that represented the low end of a range of valuations for the artwork. Upon completing the deal, she sent a note that said, “Please express to Crosby my delight.”