NEW YORK (The Thursday Times) — Heirs of the German Jewish publisher Samuel Fischer have challenged Sotheby’s planned sale of a Vincent van Gogh painting estimated at $180 million, saying it may have been sold under duress as the Nazis rose to power.
Châtaigniers en fleurs (Chestnut Trees in Blossom) is due to be auctioned in New York on Wednesday. Sotheby’s said on Saturday that its research had not shown a forced sale, but that it was talking to the family and wanted to settle the dispute.
“Sotheby’s takes provenance and restitution matters extremely seriously and has undertaken extensive research into the ownership history of Châtaigniers en fleurs,” the auction house said in a statement.
“While our research to date has not established that the painting was sold under duress, we recognize the importance of engaging thoughtfully and constructively with the family and are committed to working toward a mutually satisfactory resolution.”
A sale in Amsterdam
According to the ownership history Sotheby’s has published, Fischer bought the painting in 1909 and it stayed in his family after his death in 1934. It was deposited with the dealer Paul Cassirer in Amsterdam in 1932 or 1933 and went to Henriette and Marcel Kapferer in Paris in 1936. It has had four other owners since.
A lawyer for the Fischer heirs has written to Sotheby’s arguing that the family sold the work in Amsterdam before the Second World War because of the losses its publishing house suffered under the Nazis.
A record in sight
Van Gogh painted the work in May 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, about two months before his death at 37. It shows a blossoming chestnut tree, with a lone man walking past three women in Japanese dress.
The painting had not been shown in public for more than 60 years when Sotheby’s put it on display in Hong Kong in October, where hundreds queued to see it. The auction house has said it could set a new auction record for the artist.
It is the top lot among 12 works from the collection of the late Argentine collectors Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier, which also includes paintings by Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Paul Cézanne and is expected to raise about $450 million.
