The heirs of a German Jewish businessman are suing a Japanese company over a Van Gogh painting, which they say was sold under Nazi pressure nearly 90 years ago. ‘The Sunflowers’ (1888) belonged to banquero Paul von Mendelssohn Bartholdywho reportedly had to hastily sell his art collection around 1934 to protect his other assets from the Nazis.
After passing through several hands since then, the painting was purchased by Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company, in 1987at an auction held in Christie’s of London for a record price of 25 million British pounds (approximately 40 million euros) to exhibit it in an art museum on the 42nd floor of its headquarters in Tokyo. In 2002, Yasuda joined a new company Sompo Holdingswhich today owns Van Gogh’s canvas.
But despite the fact that Yasuda acquired the painting legally, three of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s descendants – Julius H. Schoeps, Britt-Marie Enhoerning and Florence Von Kesselstatt – now argue that the company ignored the artwork’s historical context by buy.
A court in Illinois
In its demand, filed on behalf of more than 30 beneficiaries on December 13, 2022, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the estate alleges that Yasuda “recklessly, if not on purpose,” ignored the provenance of ‘The Sunflowers’ published by Christie’s. In his catalog he noted that the famous Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sold the painting in Berlin in 1934, at a time when the Nazis were targeting Jewish bankers and businessmen.
Attached to the lawsuit is a 2001 email sent by the Yasuda Museum of Art to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam when the two institutions were discussing a possible loan of the painting for an exhibition: “We are deeply concerned about our provenance [de Van] Gogh and Gauguin,” a museum administrator from the Japanese company wrote in the message. «We believe that our two works have nothing to do with the art looted by the Nazis, but we are not 100% sure».
The heirs claim ownership of the work or, if this is not possible, 750 million dollars as compensation for damages, triple the current market value of the work, which would be about 250 million. A Sompo Holdings spokesperson told Courthouse News: “Sompo categorically rejects any allegations of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend its ownership rights to the painting.”
van gogh painted three versions of his famous ‘Sunflowers’ on a yellow background. The original, dating from August 1888, was acquired by the National Gallery, London in 1924. The artist also completed two prints in January 1889: a signed version (now in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) and an unsigned version. (acquired by Yasuda).
Sold to Paul Rosenberg
As published in ‘Art Newspaper’ Martin Bailey, specialist in Van Goghdocumentation is provided in the lawsuit that shows new light about what happened to painting during the Nazi period. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy bought ‘Los Girasoles’ in 1910 and later sold them to the Paul Rosenberg gallery based in Paris. Bailey explains that the shipment from Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Rosenberg took place in October 1934. The following year, Rosenberg sold the painting to Edith Beattythe wife of mining magnate Alfred Beatty.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s heirs argue that he was persecuted for being a Jew and was forced into a forced sale from ‘The Sunflowers’. However, the lawsuit does not cite the price Rosenberg paid for the painting. The heirs emphasize that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sold “into a depressed market saturated with many similar modern works of art that intensified Nazi persecution had taken away from other suffering Jewish collectors.”
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Bailey explains, “was one of the first major German collectors of Van Gogh’s work. The lawsuit records that in 1934 he delivered another six Van Gogh paintings to Rosenberg. Four remained unsold and were later returned to Paul’s widow, Elsa.
The key, suggests Martin Bailey, is whether ‘Los Girasoles’ was “forced sold” at a low price due to Nazi persecution. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy did not flee Nazi Germany, but appears to have suffered financial problems as a result of Hitler’s persecution of the Jews. Meanwhile, ‘The Sunflowers’ remain on public view in Tokyo at the new Sompo museum, which opened in 2020.