New York Judge Orders Nahmad to Return Nazi-Looted Modigliani to Heirs

Overview

• The New York Supreme Court ordered the return of Amedeo Modigliani’s 1918 Seated Man With a Cane to the estate of Paris dealer Oscar Stettiner.
• Judge Joel M. Cohen found the work was seized during the German occupation and cited a 1946 French ruling that had already ordered its return.
• The painting entered the Nahmad orbit at a 1996 Christie’s sale through International Art Center, a Panama-registered holding company later shown by the Panama Papers to be controlled by the Nahmad family.
• The canvas, valued at roughly $25 million to $30 million, was held in a Swiss freeport and failed to sell at a 2008 Sotheby’s auction.
• The decision crowns an 11-year claim led by grandson Philippe Maestracci and Mondex, while Nahmad maintains he bought in good faith and once loaned the work to the Jewish Museum.