A painting by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro, sold by Sotheby’s for £1.2 million in 2024, has become the centre of a legal battle involving the heirs of a Jewish banker whose art collection was seized by the Nazis during World War II.
asserted
collection → sell → II
Seven descendants of Salomon Flavian have approached a Paris court seeking to overturn the agreement that allowed the painting to be sold, arguing that most of the family was not consulted before the settlement was reached.
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settlement → approach → family
The auction house disputes the claim that the artwork was looted and has also challenged the French court’s jurisdiction.
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artwork → dispute → jurisdiction
According to The Art Newspaper, which reported on the proceedings in September 2026, the dispute concerns 'Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne, Dieppe, après-midi ensoleillée', a 1902 painting depicting the French port town of Dieppe.
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dispute → accord → Dieppe
Sotheby’s sold the work in London on June 25, 2024, for £1.2 million, below its estimated price range of £1.5 million to £2.5 million.
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Sotheby → sell → million
The Paris court is expected to deliver its ruling on November 5, 2026.
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court → expect → November
Painting’s disputed journey through history
Pissarro’s painting was owned by Flavian, a Jewish banker and art collector who lived in Paris during the 1930s.
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who → dispute → 1930s
His extensive art collection was seized by the Nazis in 1941, and his descendants believe the Dieppe painting was among the works taken.
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painting → seize → works
The painting’s history has attracted scrutiny because it appears in France’s postwar Répertoire des biens spoliés, a government register of property reported as looted during the German occupation.
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it → attract → occupation
The register was published between 1947 and 1949 to help identify and recover property that had not yet been returned to its owners.
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that → publish → owners
However, the presence of an artwork in the register does not, by itself, conclusively establish every detail of how it changed hands.
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it → establish → hands
The painting’s wartime provenance, or documented history of ownership, is now at the heart of the legal dispute.
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provenance → document → dispute
Sotheby’s catalogue acknowledged Flavian’s ownership and the painting’s inclusion in the register.
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catalogue → acknowledge → register
It also stated that the work was being offered for sale pursuant to a settlement between its current owner and Flavian’s heirs.
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work → state → owner
The painting subsequently appeared in exhibitions at major art institutions, including Tate in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, according to reports on the case.
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painting → appear → case
Seven heirs challenge settlement
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heirs → challenge → settlement
The legal challenge is not limited to whether the painting was stolen.
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painting → limit → ?
It also concerns how the settlement was negotiated and whether all the heirs were properly represented.
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heirs → concern → ?
According to The Art Newspaper, seven family members told the Paris court during a September 18 hearing that only two relatives, Gilles and Nicolas Flavian, had signed the agreement.
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relatives → accord → agreement
They argue that the other descendants were not consulted before the deal was finalised.
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deal → argue → ?
Under the arrangement, the two signatories waived their rights to the painting in connection with the sale.
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signatories → waive → sale
Four months after the auction, other family members reportedly received a letter from Mondex Corporation, a Toronto-based firm specialising in recovering assets lost during the Holocaust.
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members → receive → Holocaust
The letter said an 8% share of the net sale price had been accepted on their behalf in exchange for their cooperation.
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share → say → cooperation
An accompanying account statement referred to a 16% commission associated with the two heirs who signed the agreement.
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who → accompany → agreement
The seven plaintiffs are seeking to have the settlement annulled, arguing that they were excluded from decisions affecting their family’s claim to the artwork.
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they → seek → artwork
Sotheby’s maintains that the settlement was disclosed in its catalogue.
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settlement → maintain → catalogue
In a statement reported by The Jewish Chronicle, the auction house said: “Those discussions resulted in a settlement agreement between the consignor and Mondex, which was fully disclosed in our catalogue and pursuant to which the work was sold.”
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work → report → which
Was the painting actually looted?
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painting → loot → ?
The painting’s wartime history remains contested.
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history → remain → ?
Sotheby’s and Mondex have relied on provenance research commissioned by the sellers, which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the work had been seized by the Nazis.
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work → rely → Nazis
The research, conducted by scholar Mary Kate Cleary, found no reference to the painting in the confiscation lists maintained by the Nazi task force known as the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, which was responsible for looting artworks during the war.
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which → conduct → war
The research suggested that the painting may instead have been sold by Paris art dealer Paul Rosenberg to British collector Edward Le Bas around 1938, before the Nazi occupation of France.
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painting → suggest → France
References to Le Bas in historical records were cited in support of this interpretation.
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References → cite → interpretation
The heirs’ lawyer, Corinne Hershkovitch, challenged that conclusion.
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lawyer → challenge → conclusion
She argued that the absence of the painting from the Nazi inventories did not necessarily prove that it had not been looted.
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it → argue → inventories
She also questioned whether the historical records used in the research had been interpreted correctly and argued that additional family archives could help clarify the painting’s ownership.
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archives → question → ownership
Mondex’s lawyer, Melina Wolman, maintained that the firm believed the painting had been wrongly registered as looted.
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painting → maintain → ?
Mondex founder James Palmer said the firm had adopted its position after examining the available evidence.
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firm → say → evidence
The competing accounts mean that the question of whether the painting was forcibly taken from Flavian’s collection remains unresolved.
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painting → compete → collection
Sotheby’s questions French court’s authority
The auction house has also argued that the Paris court lacks jurisdiction because the transaction took place in London between parties it says had no direct relationship with France.
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it → question → France
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
