Japanese owner of Van Gogh’s painting sued for US$750 million over painting’s Nazi history
Many priceless artworks by the Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh were looted by Nazis during 1933–1945, mostly from Jewish collectors forced into exile or murdered
Vincent Van Gogh’s famous sunflowers painting
New Delhi: Japanese insurance company Sompo Holdings seems to have landed in trouble over a renowned painting by Van Gogh.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post, A Japanese insurance firm that paid a record sum for one of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings in 1987 says it “categorically rejects” claims it was aware the artwork was taken from its original Jewish owner by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and will resist a lawsuit brought by the heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to return it.
A look at Nazi looting of artworks by Vincent Van Gogh
Many priceless artworks by the Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh were looted by Nazis during 1933–1945, mostly from Jewish collectors forced into exile or murdered.
Some of these works have disappeared into private collections, others have resurfaced in museums, at auction, or have been reclaimed, often in high profile lawsuits taken by their former owners.
Van Gogh, the famous Dutch post-impressionist painter, was one of many artists whose artworks were looted by Nazis, either by direct seizure or by forced or duress sales. From 1933–1945, an estimated 20% of all artwork in Europe was plundered by Nazis. All property owned by Jews, including artworks, were seized as part of the Holocaust.
Van Gogh’s many Jewish collectors, who had played an important role in the popularisation and dissemination of van Gogh’s work, were targeted. In the Netherlands, van Gogh’s birthplace and home of many of his collectors, 75% of the Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and special Nazi looting organizations seized all their property, including art. Some artworks were sold to finance the Nazi war machine, and other entered the private collections of Nazi officials.
Some of the most famous van Gogh artworks passed through Nazi hands, and many have never been found.
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