Displaying items by tag: seated man with a cane

The estate of a Paris art dealer filed a suit against the Nahmad family in New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday over the restitution of a $25 million Nazi looted portrait by Amedeo Modigliani purportedly in the possession of the Nahmads, the New York Times reports.

The same court dismissed a previous attempt by the original owner's grandson, 71-year-old Philippe Maestracci, to secure the return of Modigliani's Seated Man With a Cane (1918) in 2012, after a judge ruled the France-based claimant lacked standing to pursue the case in the US.

Back in February 2011 ArtLyst reported that the disgraced international art dealer Helly Nahmad was in possession of a $20m painting by Amedeo Modigliani, "Seated Man with a Cane" (1918) that had allegedly been stolen by the Nazis from Oscar Stettiner, a prominent Paris gallerist. In 1939. Stettiner escaped Paris leaving the painting behind. The work was confiscated by Marcel Philippon, who was appointed by the Nazis to sell the Stettiner property.

The Nahmad family is now being sued by relatives of the descendants of Oscar Stettiner the original owner of the masterpiece. Helly Nahmad who is currently serving a prison sentence of 366 days as punishment for his involvement in a Russian mob linked, high-stakes gambling ring was, needless to say, unavailable for comment. He was arrested in 2013 as part of an inquiry into illegal gaming promoted as private parties for high net worth individuals including film stars, professional athletes and bank bosses.

Troubled Manhattan art dealer Helly Nahmad, who was thrown in prison in April for running an illegal gambling ring, is being sued for allegedly hiding a $20 million painting stolen by the Nazis.

Frenchman Phillippe Maestracci, whose grandfather Oscar Stettiner was a Jewish art dealer when he fled Paris before Hitler’s army invaded in 1939, is suing Nahmad and his billionaire art dealer dad David Nahmad in Manhattan Supreme Court.