"Sunflowers" by famed painter Vincent van Gogh is at the center of a $1 billion lawsuit filed by the heirs of German banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy against Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings, Inc., according to a recent Bloomberg report. The states that the painting's true ownership was violated before World War II by the Nazis, and that the company purchased it roughly 35 years ago despite knowing its history.
Now, the surviving heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy want the painting back, $690 million in damages for Sompo's alleged "unjust enrichment" in acquiring the painting, and another $750 million in punitive damages. That comes to more than $1.4 billion in total damages, a good deal more even than the $40 million Sompo paid for the painting back in the 1980s, which at the time made it the most expensive painting in history.
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According to the lawsuit, the painting was never rightfully for sale in the first place after it was looted by the Nazis like many other works of art in the 1930s and 40s, and that Sompo went ahead with the purchase and benefited from it "for many years while both knowing (either in fact or by reckless indifference) that the painting is a casualty of Nazi policies and falsely misrepresenting that it is not." But in a press statement, a Sompo company spokesperson says the painting is theirs fair and square:
"This painting was bought fairly at a Christie's auction 35 years, displayed in Tokyo for 35 years and there is no doubt about the legitimacy of its ownership…Sompo categorically rejects any allegation of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend its ownership rights in 'Sunflowers.'"
"Sunflowers," part of two different series of paintings by van Gogh of that title (another painting in the series seen above), is a very well known painting in Japan and is currently on display in a museum where it can be viewed by the public. Its ownership by Sompo is also well known and part of the company's prestige within the country, as Osaka University art professor Tsukasa Koudera explained to Bloomberg:
"It would be very painful for Sompo to give up that painting. It's closely associated with its own corporate image, so this could be a tough situation."
The lawsuit was filed in the United States while the painting hasn't left Japan since 2002, so it's possible that it's intended as a symbolic gesture rather than an actual attempt to collect damages or get the painting back. But the family has settled such ownership disputes with other entities in the past, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the National Gallery in Washington, DC.
