A Japanese company has defended its ownership of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” obtained at auction in 1987, after the family of its former owner filed a US lawsuit demanding its return.

The artwork — one of five original versions of the famous still life — was purchased by the predecessor of insurance firm Sompo Holdings at Christie’s in London for $40 million, making it briefly the world’s most expensive painting.

It has been on display in Tokyo at Sompo’s art museum for 35 years, but recently became the subject of a legal battle centered on a previous sale in Germany prior to World War II.

The family of the painting’s former owner, Jewish banker Paul von Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, filed a lawsuit in Illinois last month demanding the return of the artwork and hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

They say Sompo’s predecessor, Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance, acquired the painting “in reckless disregard of its provenance, including Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s forced sale of the painting in Nazi Germany in 1934.” ...continue reading