Pissaro Print in Dispute
The artist Sharyl Davis is now attempting to prove rightful title of a Pissaro print she purchased 25 years ago from a San Antonio art gallery.
According to this article, she purchased the print, “Le Marche,” for $8,500 and then displayed it in her homes over the years until she recently attempted to sell it at Sotheby’s for $60,000-80,000.
The Art Loss Register saw the work in an auction catalogue and contacted the auction house to make it aware that this work was previously stolen from the Musee Faure in Aix-les-Baines. The United States government then seized the work as contraband.
A New York Federal Appeals court is weighing the case between prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and Ms. Davis. Interestingly, Sotheby’s sold a more valuable Renoir painting, “Buste de Femme” in 1987 that, according to defense, was stolen from the same museum on the same day.
(This entry was created with the assistance of Nicole Dornbusch.)
