The descendants of German Jews who were “forced” to sell a Picasso painting while fleeing the Nazi regime have filed a $100 million suit against the Metropolitan Museum of Art for refusing to return their prized artwork.
Laurel Zuckerman, great-grandniece of Paul and Alice Leffmann, says her forebears escaped from Cologne, Germany, to Florence, Italy, in 1937, but their “hope of finding a safe haven … was soon dashed.”
In 1938, the Leffmanns had to sell their Picasso masterpiece, titled “The Actor,” so they had money to travel to safety, first living in Switzerland then Brazil, the suit says.
C.M. de Hauke, “whom the U.S. State Department later identified as a trafficker in Nazi-looted art,” paid them the equivalent of $12,000, the filing says.
The Met says on its website Leffmann sold the painting to Picasso’s dealer in 1938. After changing hands several times, the painting was donated to the museum by automobile heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy in 1952.
Lawyers for Zuckerman contend the museum should have known the painting’s background was sketchy — and the Leffmann family had a rightful claim to ownership.
“Our hope is that by bringing this lawsuit, this important work will be returned to its rightful owner,” said Ross Hirsch, who represents Zuckerman in the Manhattan federal court suit.
Reps for the Met did not immediately comment.