Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Buyer Sues Auction House Over Goering Provenance

March 26, 2013 by Marion Maneker

diana-cupid-loo

The Courthouse News Service has this story about a man who tried to sell his Old Master work through Christie’s and found out it had been owned by Herman Goering:

Brooks claims that in 2004 Sotheby’s sold him the “Allegorical Portrait of a Lady as Diana Wounded by Cupid,” by 18th century French artist Louis-Michel van Loo.

But because the art work may be assumed to have been acquired illegally by Goering, the founder of the Gestapo, neither Sotheby’s nor Christie’s will touch the work, and Sotheby’s refuses to refund his money, Brooks says in the complaint.

Brooks says he asked Christie’s to sell the work for him in 2010. Only then, he says, did he learn about its Nazi past – information Sotheby’s had either failed to acquire or failed to share with him.

He claims Christie’s declined the consignment when its own research led to question how Goering got the work.

Man Claims Sotheby’s Sold Him Nazi Art (Courthouse News Service)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Ai Weiwei's Surgery (a few more details)Ai Weiwei's Surgery (a few more details)
  • Phillips London Contemporary Has Richter, Kippenberger and LichtensteinPhillips London Contemporary Has Richter, Kippenberger and Lichtenstein
  • Sotheby’s (BID) Gets Its Catalyst in Mrs. MellonSotheby’s (BID) Gets Its Catalyst in Mrs. Mellon
  • Poly Auction Sells 12 Qi Baishi Works for $144mPoly Auction Sells 12 Qi Baishi Works for $144m
  • Why Won’t Sotheby’s and Christie’s Share Info on Deadbeat Bidders?
  • China's Imperial HungerChina's Imperial Hunger

Filed Under: Fraud, Theft & Restitution

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...