By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

17:23 GMT, 30 March 2013

|

UPDATED:

17:23 GMT, 30 March 2013

The German state of Bavaria has said that it will not return a $100 million Picasso portrait in its possession that was originally owned by a wealthy Jewish art collector in Berlin during the Holocaust.

The chef d’oeuvre, Madame Soler, had belonged to Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, from the wealthy family of Jewish financiers and a relative of the 19th-century composer Felix Mendelssohn.

The family of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy claims this Picasso painting, Madame Soler, was sold under duress during the Nazi regime

In March 1933, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
grew concerned about the security of his property and arranged to
transport five Picassos he owned to Switzerland for storage.

According to a report in the New York Times in 2007, he arranged for a Swiss dealer to receive them and place them into storage.

But one year later Mendelssohn-Bartholdy decided to sell them to a gallery in Munich and his heirs are suing, claiming that the man was forced to sell the valuable art under duress.

The Heirs to the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy estate had previously sued both
the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim for two Picassos in their
possession that had been owned by their ancestor. 

The gallery owner who originally purchased the valuable pieces, Justin K. Thannhauser, had given Le Moulin de la Galette to the Guggenheim in 1963 and sold Boy Leading a Horse to CBS founder, William S. Paley, who donated it to the

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Museum of Modern Art in 1964.

The family was awarded a $5 million settlement.

Madame Soler was sold by Thannhauser, who fled Germany in 1937, to the Bavarian State Paintings Collection in 1964.

‘This is a case of great historical importance involving Germany’s most
famous Jewish family,’ the lawyer for the family, John Byrne Jr., told
the New York Post.

‘We are perplexed and disappointed by Bavaria’s failure to properly
address the important issues involved in this matter,’ he added. 

Rightful owners: Madame Soler was sold by the Berlin art dealer who purchased it to the Bavarian State Paintings Collection in 1964 (pictured the painting at an exhibit in Munich in March 2012)

Earlier in March, France announced it would increase efforts to work toward restoring art taken from Jews by the Nazis during World War II to the families of the victims.

Six 18th-century paintings were returned to the descendants of Vienna-based industrialist Richard Neumann and another 17th-century work was given to the family of Josef Wiener, a Prague banker who perished in the holocaust. 

Many families are waiting while France’s state museums investigate the ownership of approximately 2,000 works of art in its possession.

Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said France is committed to taking a more active approach to identifying the rightful owners.

Family: The painting had belonged to Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, from the wealthy family of Jewish financiers and a relative of the 19th-century composer Felix Mendelssohn (pictured)

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Am i the only person who thinks Picasso paintings are pretty rubbish, they all look like they were painted by an art student. Sorry

–

Patsy
,

Essex,
30/3/2013 20:47

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Can they prove duress? Probably not. I support returning stolen goods; but sold goods are just that. Sold goods.

–

Lucky Moonshine
,

The South, USA,
30/3/2013 20:35

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This will be a difficult case. The painting was sold… maybe under duress but I’m sure the Bavarian gov’t. will do everything in it’s power to show the painting was paid for fairly. (I’m not saying it was paid for fairly, just saying it will be a hard case for the family to prove…)

–

athena
,

Oakland, United States,
30/3/2013 20:08

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I hope a deal can be negotiated, but its hard to prove he was under duress if he took a while to sell it. All people have ups and downs. Paintings are just foolish prices are they not? Like football ticket prices.

–

Robert Esquire
,

Tamworth, United Kingdom,
30/3/2013 18:06

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