Nazi-looted Degas painting sparks $10.7 million inheritance battle decades later

A pastel painting by French artist Edgar Degas has become the centre of a prolonged legal dispute over a Jewish couple's art collection looted by the Nazis in 1935. The work, titled Danseuses, belonged to Margret and Ludwig Kainer before it was seized and sold during the Nazi era. After passing through art dealers and galleries in the international art market, the painting was sold privately for $6 million in 2009 before fetching $10.7 million at a Christie's auction in New York. The couple's purported heirs have challenged the transactions, arguing that their inheritance rights were overlooked. On June 4, 2026, a New York appellate court lifted a years-long pause on their lawsuit against Christie's, allowing the case to proceed.Nazis looted the Degas painting in 1935Danseuses was part of the art collection owned by Margret and Ludwig Kainer, a Jewish couple who left Germany in 1932 as the Nazi regime rose to power. In 1935, their collection, comprising more than 400 artworks, was looted by the Nazis and sold at an auction in Berlin on May 31 that year.The Degas painting subsequently passed through the international art market, with its documented history including dealers and gall...