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Christie's auction house is withdrawing a Picasso portrait valued at up to 60 million dollars from a sale later Wednesday due to legal claims the true owner was forced to sell it by the Nazis.
The Blue Period work, "Portrait de Angel Fernandez de Soto," was to be one of the centrepieces of Christie's impressionist and modern art sale but has been in doubt since a German man emerged claiming he was the rightful owner.
Julius Schoeps alleged that one of his ancestors, Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, was forced to sell the work at well below its true value under Nazi oppression in 1934.
A New York judge dismissed Schoeps' claim on Tuesday, but Christie's said further legal manoeuvres had forced it to withdraw the portrait, which is owned by the foundation of "Cats" composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Christie's said that while it was reluctantly withdrawing the work, it reserved the right to seek damages if the claim proved bogus.
"The joint decision was the result of 11th-hour claims," which the house said had placed a "cloud of doubt" over the portrait.
"Christie's and our client remain confident that the underlying claim has no merit," it said in a statement.
The painting, described by Christie's as arguably one of the most important Picasso works in its period, was bought by Lloyd Webber's foundation for 29 million dollars just over a decade ago.
It carries a pre-sale estimate of between 40 million and 60 million dollars.
Sarah Jackson of the Art Loss Register, which deals with stolen and looted art, said the way in which Schoeps had gone about claiming ownership of the painting could negatively affect restitution efforts by other claimants.
Another highlight of Wednesday's sale is "Adele Bloch-Bauer II," a 1912 portrait by Austrian symbolist Gustav Klimt that was confiscated by the Nazis during World War II and returned to the owners' heir earlier this year.
It also carries an estimate of 40 million to 60 million dollars. An earlier version of the painting, "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," broke records when it was sold at auction earlier this year in New York for 135 million dollars.
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AFP 082025 GMT 11 06
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