A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges two board members of the Cy Twombly Foundation, which was established to promote the American painter’s works and legacy, erroneously collected $300,000 in fees from the charity, The New York Times reports.

Known for his vivid abstractions, the influential painter died in 2011.

His companion and the foundation's president, Nicola Del Roscio, and Julie Sylvester, the foundation's vicepresident as well as a curator and Twombly expert, allege board member Thomas H. Saliba paid himself unauthorized investment fees with the assistance of another board member, attorney Ralph E. Lerner. They accuse the two of grossly inflating the value of Twombly works to bump up their commissions as administrators of a trust that predated the foundation.

A month earlier, Lerner asked the court in Delaware, where the foundation is incorporated, to appoint a fifth director to overturn what he termed as a deadlock among the board members.