French court orders return of Nazi-looted Pissarro painting to Jewish collector's heirs

A Paris court ordered the return of a Camille Pissarro painting stolen by Nazis in 1941 to the descendants of Jewish banker Salomon Flavian, voiding all subsequent sales including a 2024 Sotheby's auction. An appeal is planned.

A Paris court has ordered that a Camille Pissarro painting, The Port of Dieppe, be returned to the descendants of Jewish banker and art collector Salomon Flavian. The court found that the painting was confiscated by Nazi officers in 1941 and that Flavian made substantial efforts to recover it after the war. The ruling voids all subsequent sales, including a 2024 Sotheby's auction in London where the painting sold for £1.2 million. The court ordered Sotheby's to reveal the buyer's identity within two months or face a daily fine of 3,550 NIS. The current owner must return the painting. However, the legal action was led by only two family members, Gilles and Nicholas Flavian, without contacting others. Consultant James Palmer, representing the current owner, plans to appeal, arguing that provenance records show British collector Edward Le Bas owned the painting from 1939, and that the court did not properly consider this evidence.