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- Descendants of Jewish collector Salomon Flavian are demanding that a Paris court annul the sale of a Pissarro painting at Sotheby’s in London, which they claim was looted by Nazis.
- At 77, Filipina artist Imelda Cajipe Endaya just became the first woman to receive the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Visual Arts.
- Germany’s culture minister said that plans to fund Berlin’s arts scene should not support cultural programming that excludes Jewish artists.
The Headlines
UNTANGLING A PISSARRO’S PAST. Descendants of Jewish collector Salomon Flavian are demanding that a Paris court annul the sale of a 1902 painting by Camille Pissarro at Sotheby’s in London, on June 25, 2024, which they claim was looted by Nazis, reports The Art Newspaper. However, in the complicated case, Sotheby’s asserted that two other relatives of Flavian, who are not among the plaintiffs, had previously signed away their ownership claim on the painting, titled Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne (Fishing Dock and Duquesne Basin), through the Toronto-based company representing them, the Mondex Corporation. Members of the family who had not signed any settlement permitting the Sotheby’s sale learned about it afterwards. To make matters more confusing, Mondex has also claimed in court that the painting was never looted by Nazi’s, though the report does not explain why, in that case, Mondex would have brokered a financial settlement with two of Flavian’s heirs prior to the sale, as this would suggest the heirs had some sort of legal claim over the works as having been Nazi looted. Lastly, for those wondering, why this case is being held in Paris, lawyers for Sotheby’s argued that it actually shouldn’t, since the sale was made in London, and the parties involved have “no relationship with France.”