The heirs of Piet Mondrian have challenged the Philadelphia Museum of Art over ownership of a painting by the Dutch artist that representatives of the estate claim was looted by the Nazis.
She entrusted it to a museum in Hanover, Germany, that was later raided by the National Socialist authorities in 1937, shortly before Mondrian fled to London.
A complaint was filed in Philadelphia on Friday by the trustees of the Connecticut-based Elizabeth McManus Holtzman Irrevocable Trust, the children of Elizabeth McManus Holtzman, and American painter Harry Holtzman, who sponsored Mondrian’s immigration to New York to escape Nazi persecution.
The PMA has forcefully rejected the accusation that Composition was acquired illegitimately.
In a statement to ARTnews, the museum said it “fully supports restoring artwork looted by the Nazi regime to its rightful owners, and we have done so in the past.” However, “the private trust that is suing the Museum has no legitimate claim to Composition with Blue by Piet Mondrian.
The lawsuit also sought damages for four additional works that were allegedly sold in the 1950s to finance the acquisitions of works by Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.
The heirs publicly claimed ownership rights to the Krefeld group in 2018, according to a report in the New York Times.