Seven Flavian heirs sue Sotheby's in Paris over £1.2m Pissarro painting sold in 2024

Seven descendants of Jewish banker Salomon Flavian have asked a Paris court to annul the settlement under which Sotheby's sold a 1902 Camille Pissarro painting for £1.2 million in London on June 25, 2024. The Times of India reported the challenge, and the court is expected to rule on November 5, 2026.

The Pissarro Sale and the Flavian Claim

The painting, 'Darse de pêche et bassin Duquesne, Dieppe, après-midi ensoleillée', depicts the French port town of Dieppe. Sotheby's sold it for £1.2 million, below its estimate of £1.5 million to £2.5 million, according to The Art Newspaper's account of the September 2026 proceedings.

Flavian was a Jewish banker and art collector in 1930s Paris whose collection was seized by the Nazis in 1941. The painting appears in France's postwar Répertoire des biens spoliés, a government register of property reported as looted published between 1947 and 1949. Sotheby's catalogue acknowledged Flavian's ownership and the register entry, and stated the work was offered pursuant to a settlement between its current owner and Flavian's heirs.

At a September 18 hearing, seven family members told the court that only two relatives, Gilles and Nicolas Flavian, had signed the agreement. Four months after the auction, other family members received a letter from Toronto-based Mondex Corporation saying an 8% share of the net sale price had been accepted on their behalf, with an account statement referring to a 16% commission tied to the two signatories.

Sotheby's said in a statement reported by The Jewish Chronicle: "Those discussions resulted in a settlement agreement between the consignor and Mondex, which was fully disclosed in our catalogue and pursuant to which the work was sold." The auction house also argues the Paris court lacks jurisdiction because the transaction took place in London.

Sotheby's Scale Behind the Dispute

Sotheby's is a 1744-founded auction house running live, online and private sales of fine art, jewelry, watches, wine and collectibles across roughly 40 countries, according to akta.pro company records. The same records put its 2025 global sales at $7 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase, and its fine-art auction sales in 2025 at $3.3 billion, a 31% gain.

Earlier Sotheby's Sales and Disputes

Sotheby's New York sold the Magnum Opus collection on October 21, 2026, generating $63 million with all 64 lots sold, and a Roman Imperial torso fetched $34.3 million, Observer reported. Cushman & Wakefield and Sotheby's settled a lawsuit over a $10 million commission dispute tied to the sale of Sotheby's Upper East Side headquarters, The Real Deal reported in October 2026. Sotheby's is also auctioning 415 Nelson documents gathered by Clive Richards over 40 years, estimated at £4 million to £6 million, The Times of India reported.

The Paris Ruling

The Paris court is expected to deliver its ruling on November 5, 2026, on whether the settlement can be annulled and whether the court has jurisdiction.