Nazi Loot Claim Fails to Hinder Planned Cologne Kandinsky Sale
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The Cologne auction house Kunsthaus Lempertz said it will sell a Wassily Kandinsky watercolor worth more than $1 million, dismissing a claim from heirs of a pre-World War II owner who say it was stolen by the Nazis.
The 1923 painting, “Zwei Schwarze Flecke” (“Two Black Marks”) is the top lot in Lempertz’s modern art sale tomorrow, with a value estimated at 900,000 euros ($1.2 million) to 1 million euros. The catalog says it was a gift from Kandinsky to Sophie Lissitzky-Kueppers, yet stops short of mentioning that her heirs are fighting to get it back.