---
title: "New York Supreme Court Returns Modigliani Painting to Heirs of Jewish Dealer Stolen by Nazis"
description: "The New York Supreme Court has ordered collector David Nahmad to return a Modigliani painting to the heirs of a Jewish dealer stolen by Nazis. 🎨⚖️ The court found the auction house Christie's guilty of distorting facts about the lot's origin. The masterpiece is valued at $30 million."
date: 2026-06-26T18:12:05.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/new-york-supreme-court-returns-modigliani-painting-to-heirs-of-jewish-dealer-stolen-by-nazis
tags: []
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# New York Supreme Court Returns Modigliani Painting to Heirs of Jewish Dealer Stolen by Nazis

![Amedeo Modigliani’s painting 'Man in a Hat', returned by the New York Supreme Court to the heirs of a Jewish dealer from whom it was stolen by the Nazis](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/26/sud-nyu-yorka-vernul-kartinu-modilyani-naslednikam/sud-nyu-yorka-vernul-kartinu-modilyani-naslednikam-1.webp)

The New York State Supreme Court has issued a historic ruling, concluding one of the most high-profile legal battles in the art world. The court ordered renowned collector David Nahmad to return Amedeo Modigliani's painting "Seated Man with Cane" (1918) to the heirs of the original owner. The canvas, valued at $25–30 million, must be handed over within 30 days.

The decision, issued by Judge Joel M. Cohen, marked the final point in an 11-year dispute that began in 2015. The plaintiffs were the heirs of Oscar Stettiner — a British subject of Jewish origin who owned a gallery in Paris before the start of World War II.

### A Tragic History of Loss

The legal proceedings relied on archival documents reconstructing the chain of ownership of the masterpiece over eight decades. In 1939, prior to the occupation of France, Oscar Stettiner was forced to leave Paris, leaving his property behind. In 1944, as part of the "Aryanization" policy, a temporary administrator appointed by the occupying authorities put the painting up for a forced auction. The buyer was a French collaborator.

After the war, in 1946, a French court declared the 1944 transaction void and ordered the painting to be returned to Stettiner. However, by the time the verdict was issued, the buyer had already resold the canvas, presumably to a US Army officer, and its whereabouts remained unknown. Oscar Stettiner died in 1948 without ever seeing his treasure again.

### Dispute Over Ownership

The painting resurfaced in 1996 when the auction house Christie's put it up for auction in London. It was purchased for £2.2 million by the company International Art Center (IAC). For a long time, the canvas was stored in a specialized freeport in Geneva.

During the proceedings, David Nahmad's defense attempted to uphold his rights, citing the good faith of the acquisition at a public auction and the lack of information regarding the painting's destructive past. Lawyers also challenged the identity of the object, pointing to possible inaccuracies in catalogs from the 1930s and 1940s.

However, Judge Cohen rejected these arguments. The expert examination confirmed that the original label with the Stettiner family name was preserved on the back of the canvas, as well as markings regarding its exhibition at the 1930 Venice Biennale. On the reverse side of an archival photograph from 1950, the inscription "stolen" was found.

### The Role of the Auction House and the Verdict

Special attention in the court's decision was paid to the role of the auction house Christie's. According to the case materials, it was the auction house that "intentionally or negligently" provided incorrect and incomplete data regarding the lot's provenance in the 1996 catalog. This error became the key factor that allowed the transaction to take place.

The court also established that David Nahmad was personally not involved in the concealment of the painting in the post-war years, as he only purchased it in 1996. Nevertheless, in accordance with the US Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, priority ownership rights were recognized for Stettiner's heirs.

Nahmad's press office has already confirmed its readiness to comply with the court order and transfer the masterpiece to the legal owners.