Xante Battaglia cleared of fraud over Yves Klein painting sold at PaviArt 2013

Italian artist Xante Battaglia has been cleared of fraud charges after a three-year investigation into a Yves Klein painting he sold at the 2013 PaviArt fair. The work, valued at €120,000, was initially declared fake by a buyer-commissioned expert report, leading to seizure by Carabinieri and a fraud complaint. Battaglia, a former professor at Milan's Accademia di Brera, had accepted a trade of six paintings by Arman, Adami, Turcato, Schneider, Salvo, and Crippa plus €7,000 from a collector in Belgioioso. A subsequent expert report confirmed the painting's attribution to Yves Klein, suggesting it may have been a collaborative work with Roberto Crippa. The €7,000 was a separate debt payment. All six traded paintings have been returned to the collector, and the Klein painting has been returned to Battaglia.