Heirs of former owner demand return of a version of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

The heirs of German Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have asked the current owner of a version of Vincent van Gogh ’s Sunflowers to return the canvas. The work in question is one owned by the Japanese insurance company Sompo Holdings, which exhibits it at the Sompo Japan Museum of Art in Tokyo: it is an autographed replica of the version that Van Gogh executed in the summer of 1888 and is now in the National Gallery in London (the slightly larger Japanese work, however, dates from December 1888-January 1889). The Yasuda Insurance Company, which later merged with Sompo, bought it at Christie’s auction in 1987 (at the time it was the most expensive work ever sold at auction).

Before landing in Japan, the work was part of Chester Beatty’s London collection. And before that, in 1910, they had been purchased by the very banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, great-grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. However, as a Jew, he was forced to sell his works during the Nazi years, and now the heirs plan to sue Sompo Holdings: they are demanding the return of the Van Gogh painting or compensation of $750 million. The claim is that the work was sold against the banker’s wishes and that the current owners, when they purchased the Sunflowers in 1987, willfully ignored the painting’s history. According to media reports, the Japanese holding company denies the allegations and is intent on defending its ownership rights.

This is not the first time the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy heirs have claimed a work by their ancestor: it has happened before with actions that were successful, but in some cases failed to get the paintings back. In the spring of 2020, the heirs had their ownership of Pablo Picasso’s Head of a Woman, housed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, reassigned. It was different in 2010, when they had to give up another Picasso work that ended up in the foundation of music composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. And it was instead a substantial draw in 2009, when they sued MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York over a work by Picasso and a work by Renoir, respectively: the museums at the time retained title to the paintings and the heirs obtained compensation (although the amount was never revealed).

Image: Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers (December 1888-January 1889; oil on canvas, 100.5 x 76.5; Tokyo, Sompo Japan Museum of Art)

Heirs of former owner demand return of a version of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

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