Japanese insurer Sompo is being sued over a Vincent van Gogh painting with claims that it had benefited from ownership despite knowledge of its Nazi-linked history.
Sompo is being sued by the heirs to the former owner of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflower painting, according to a lawsuit filed in a US federal court on December 13.
The heirs of the late Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and his wife Elsa, who has also passed away, are seeking the return of the painting alongside $690 million in damages for «unjust enrichment» and $750 million in punitive damages.
They claim in the filing that Sompo had wrongfully benefited from the Sunflowers painting «for many years while both knowing that the painting is a casualty of Nazi policies and falsely misrepresenting that it is not».
Jewish Banker in Germany
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a prominent banker in Germany who was forced to relinquish the painting in 1934 as a result of Nazi policies to strip the Jews of their assets and social status. He passed away in 1935.
The artwork was later bought in 1987 at a Christie’s auction in London for $40 million – the highest price ever for a painting at the time – by Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance, Sompo’s previous brand name.
«This painting was bought fairly at a Christie’s auction 35 years ago, displayed in Tokyo for 35 years and there is no doubt about the legitimacy of its ownership,» according to a statement by Sompo, adding that it was ready to defend itself in court.
