Camille Pissarro, Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne, Dieppe, après-midi ensoleillée (1902).Courtesy Sotheby's.

Heirs of a Jewish Collector Contest Sotheby’s Sale of a Pissarro Painting Possibly Looted by Nazis

by · ARTnews

Several heirs to Jewish banker Salomon Flavian have taken Sotheby’s to court in Paris over the auctioneer’s sale of a painting by Camille Pissarro. They maintain that the painting was looted by the Nazis and say they were left out of an agreement struck with two of their family members, reports the Art Newspaper (TAN).

The case concerns the French Impressionist’s canvas Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne, Dieppe, après-midi ensoleillée (Fishing dock and Duquesne basin, Dieppe, sunny afternoon), 1902, showing the port city in western France.

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Sotheby’s London sold the painting in 2024 for £1.2 million ($1.5 million at the time). Sotheby’s indicated that the work was being offered “pursuant to a settlement between the current owner and heirs of Salomon Flavian,” whose collection the Nazis seized in Paris in 1941. The house’s lawyers maintained in court that the heirs’ consent was gained through Mondex Corporation, which specializes in the recovery of art and other assets looted during World War II, reports TAN. But seven plaintiffs maintained in court on September 18 that only two relatives, Gilles and Nicholas Flavian, had signed the agreement and that the rest had not been consulted, per the newspaper.

Those who had not been privy to the settlement then learned, in an October 2024 letter from Mondex, reviewed by TAN, that the company had accepted an 8% share of the net sale price in their name “in exchange for their cooperation.” The two heirs who had signed the contract, meanwhile, received a 16% commission, according to an account statement accompanying the letter.

The house’s provenance indicates that the painting was acquired by Paris dealer Paul Rosenberg by 1937 and subsequently by London dealer Edward Le Bas by 1939. It has been exhibited at museums including Tate in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

TAN notes that Sotheby’s had indicated in sale materials that the canvas had been registered in a repertory of looted art released by the French government in 1947. But Mondex attorney Melina Wolman told the court that the firm maintains that the painting was never actually looted, saying that a provenance researcher hired by the sellers found that the painting did not appear on a Nazi-maintained list of works confiscated. But, argue the plaintiffs, the Nazis’ lists were often modified at the request of unscrupulous dealers. Wolman told the court that the company was the “victim of a relentless harassment.” Mondex did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Sotheby’s lawyer further argues that the Paris court should have no jurisdiction over a sale that took place in London between clients with no connection to France, reports TAN. Sotheby’s was unable to provide comment before publication time. A verdict is expected on November 5.