After being ordered to return a nazi-looted Modigliani painting to its heirs, art delaer David Nahmad might also have to pay millions in fines.
Four months ago, Justice Joel M. Cohen rules that the painting ‘Seated Man With A Cane’ by Amedeo Modigliani rightfully belonged to Oscar Stettiner. The Jewish art dealer had left the painting behind in Paris while fleeing to escape the Nazi occupation. The judge ruled that the painting belongs to the heirs of Stettiner instead of billionaire art dealer David Nahmad. In June, it was ruled that Nahmad must handover the painting; however, an Appellate Court put an interim stay on that order.
On Tuesday, Justice Cohen ruled that the heirs are entitled to prejudgment interests, or interest on the value of the painting for all the years they were deprived of the works. Interestingly, Cohen added a further remark that he is personally not in favor of this, since there is no indication that Nahmad was aware of the Modigliani work’s origins when he acquired it in 1996. However, he has to follow the established precedent in such cases.
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A hearing is scheduled in September to decide how much the heirs are owed, which will entirely depend on the value of the Modigliani. When the filesuit was first filed in 2014, the heirs claimed that the painting was worth $20 million while Nahmad argued it was worth $6.5 million. The actual, current value of the work would be decided during the evidentiary hearing. Based on the decided value, the accrued interest will be interested. On the higher end, Nahmad might end up owing millions of dollars to Stettiner’s heirs.
