Heirs of a Jewish collector are demanding that a Vincent van Gogh painting valued at $180 million be withdrawn from an auction in New York. They claim the work was sold under duress in 1936 because of Nazi persecution, the daily Haaretz reported Saturday.
The painting “Blossoming Chestnut Trees” (“Chataigniers en Fleurs”), painted in 1890, is scheduled to go on the block at Sotheby’s on Wednesday. If it reaches its estimated price, it will break van Gogh’s auction record of $117.2 million, The Art Newspaper reported.
According to the Times of Israel, the painting was bought in 1909 by German publisher Samuel Fischer. After his death in 1934, the family publishing house was taken over by his son-in-law, Gottfried Bermann Fischer, who fled Berlin for Vienna because of Nazi persecution. In 1936, the painting was sold to a Paris collector.
The heirs claim the sale was forced by persecution, by restrictions on Jews taking property out of the country and by an emigration tax imposed on the family.
The heirs’ lawyer demanded that Sotheby’s show that the sale was made at market price and would have taken place even without Nazi persecution. Otherwise, in his view, the auction should not go ahead, Haaretz reported.
The auction house said it is in talks with the heirs and is seeking to resolve the dispute. (PAP)
Source: Nowy Dziennik
