Billionaire refuses to return $25m Modigliani masterpiece stolen by Nazis from Jewish art dealer
A billionaire New York City art dealer is refusing to return a famous $25 million painting that was stolen from a renowned Jewish art dealer by the Nazis during World War II, a sensational lawsuit charges.
In court papers, Philippe Maestracci alleges that the Helly Nahmad Gallery -- located in Manhattan’s posh Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue -- is wrongly in possession of the 1918 painting, 'Seated Man With a Cane,’ by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.
The canvas was owned by Maestracci’s grandfather Oscar Stettiner, a prominent Jewish gallery owner in Paris.
But Stettiner was forced to flee with his wife and two children months before the German troops stormed into Paris and the north and west of France became occupied Nazi territory....