Legal assistance for damage caused by exposure

Questioner

I exhibited my paintings in a coffee bar earlier this year. I hung the paintings myself. When they had to be taken down after the exhibition, I called the owner of the coffee bar and he told me that he would take my work down so that he could set up a new exhibition. I asked if I had to come and do it myself, but he said that that was not necessary and that he would wrap my paintings in bubble wrap. I could pick them up later. So I picked them up and I was shocked. They were not wrapped and some of the canvases were damaged. The price tags were stuck on the paintings, both on the painted side and on the back. I had a hard time getting them off. Some of the canvases were stuck together with the painted side so that when I pulled them off, the paint came off in a few places. I texted the owner and he reacted shocked and promised to call me. Now he still hasn't called me and when I called him I was pushed away. Can I recover the damages from him? Even though we have not entered into an agreement and all agreements were made verbally and via text message/facebook? Thank you in advance for your answer.

Lawyer

Yes, that is possible, moreover there is an agreement that you were allowed to use the space for exhibition, namely a verbally agreed agreement. This includes a duty of care for your belongings and this has been neglected. However, it will be difficult to derive a value, the reduction in the value of the items that have been affected. Do you have somewhere on paper or in an e-mail or text message that the coffee shop owner acknowledges the mistake?