Heirs of a German Jewish Art Collector Pursue Resurrection of Van Gogh Lawsuit; Update on Uzbekistan's Art World; Daily Links for September 19, 2025
In a series of significant art market events, Christie's will sell works from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art's collection during its fall marquee auctions. This decision, however, has sparked controversy, as a major shareholder in DIC Corp, Hong Kong-based Oasis Management, has criticized the move.
Thechemically-indebted DIC Corporation, which owns the museum, announced earlier this year that it was reevaluating the institution's future. In response, the museum's board of directors decided to "downsize and relocate" the collection, along with seven of Mark Rothko's Seagram Murals, to the International House of Japan (IHJ), a private members' club in Tokyo.
This relocation has been met with opposition from Oasis Management, which has close ties to DIC Corp chairman Yoshihisa Kawamura. Oasis has described the relocation as "highly inappropriate."
Meanwhile, a legal dispute surrounds a painting from the collection – Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers. The heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a German Jewish banker and art collector, are urging the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to revive their lawsuit seeking the return of the painting.
The heirs allege that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy surrendered the painting to escape Nazi persecution. They claim that the painting was purchased at a 1987 Christie's auction by Sompo Holdings, a Japanese insurance company, and that Sompo gained profits when the painting was shown at a 2001 Art Institute of Chicago exhibition. The lawsuit was filed under the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2016.
Attorney Thomas Hamilton, representing the heirs, described the sale as a "devil's bargain" forced by Nazi oppression. Hamilton contends that the HEAR Act and the Terezin Declaration reflect US foreign policy priorities to return Nazi-looted art, even if the declaration is nonbinding.
Elsewhere in the art world, Sotheby's has announced it will sell a collection of Surrealist "masterpieces" in November, led by Frida Kahlo's El sueño (La cama), which carries an estimate of $40 million to $60 million. Meanwhile, a new painting of Dara Maar by Pablo Picasso, Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat (Dora Maar), is on view at the auction house Lucien Paris.
The collection to be auctioned off by Christie's includes pieces by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore. Among the headliners is Monet's Nymphéas (1907), with a low estimate of $40 million.
In a positive note, the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) is making strides in revitalizing and modernizing Uzbekistan's art scene. Led by Gayane Umerova, the foundation organizes major cultural projects, works on the design of a new National Museum, and restores historical sites, positioning Uzbekistan as a dynamic player in the international art world.
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