Heirs of the owner of Van Gogh's most expensive painting demand it be withdrawn from sale

The heirs of the former owner of Vincent van Gogh's painting "Flowering Chestnut" are demanding that the auction house Sotheby's withdraw it from the sale due to a possible sale under pressure from Nazi Germany.

As 1news.az reports citing The New York Times, Van Gogh's canvas is valued at approximately $180 million and may be considered the artist's most expensive painting.

At the same time, the presumed heirs to the painting claim that the work may have been sold because of the family's financial difficulties caused by the activities of Nazi Germany.

The heirs' lawyers approached Sotheby's with a demand to confirm that the painting was sold in 1936 at market value, otherwise "the auction cannot take place."

Earlier, Sotheby's announced that on November 18 an auction would be held in New York featuring 12 paintings by famous artists, including Alfred Sisley, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and others.

Among the paintings put up for auction is "Flowering Chestnut," as well as Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting "In the Canoe," also known as "Girl in a Boat."

Sotheby's valued "In the Canoe" at approximately $25-30 million, while the price of the Van Gogh painting is available only upon request.