Law & Justice

Paris Court to Decide on Sale of Pissarro Painting Amid Heirs’ Looting Claim

By TOI World Desk

A 1902 Camille Pissarro painting, sold by Sotheby’s in London for £1.2 million on 25 June 2024, is the subject of a legal dispute brought by seven descendants of Jewish banker Salomon Flavian. The heirs argue that the painting, which appears in France’s post‑war register of looted property, was seized by the Nazis in 1941 and that they were not consulted before a settlement was reached that allowed the sale. Sotheby’s disputes the claim that the work was looted and has also challenged the jurisdiction of the Paris court. The case, reported by The Art Newspaper in September 2026, involves the painting titled “Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne, Dieppe, après‑midi ensoleillée.” The heirs contend that only two relatives, Gilles and Nicolas Flavian, signed the settlement, while the other five were excluded. They seek to annul the agreement. Sotheby’s maintains that the settlement was fully disclosed in its catalogue and that the transaction took place in London between parties it says had no direct link to France. The court is expected to rule on 5 November 2026. The dispute also centers on the painting’s wartime provenance. Provenance research commissioned by Sotheby’s and Mondex, a Toronto firm that helped secure an 8 % share of the sale, found no evidence of the painting in Nazi confiscation lists and suggested it may have been sold by Paul Rosenberg to Edward Le Bas in 1938. The heirs’ lawyer, Corinne Hershkovitch, challenged this conclusion, arguing that the absence from Nazi inventories does not prove the painting was not looted. Mondex’s lawyer, Melina Wolman, said the firm believed the painting had been wrongly registered as looted. The case highlights the challenges of resolving claims over artworks that passed through multiple owners decades after the Holocaust. The ruling will address whether the settlement can be challenged and whether the Paris court has authority to hear the case, but it will not necessarily resolve the painting’s wartime history.}