Weis family rejects claim $4M Soulages painting was stolen
The heirs of the Weis supermarket fortune have filed a counterclaim denying that a Pierre Soulages painting they sold for US$4 million was stolen almost 50 years ago.
The filing answers a lawsuit from the Zeckendorf family and states that the Weis estate rejects what it calls “unfounded and moving-target theories” about ownership, ARTnews reported on 22 September.
The work at the centre is Peinture 161 x 200 cm, 14 novembre 1958, a large abstract canvas by Soulages. It was offered at Christie’s, the international auction house, last November as part of the Weis collection sale.
It carried a pre-sale estimate of US$5 million to US$7 million. It took a hammer price, the bid the auctioneer closes on before fees, of US$4 million and totalled US$4,955,000 once buyer’s premium, an added fee paid to the auction house, was included, according to Artlyst.
The Zeckendorf family alleges the painting was stolen in or around 1977 and seeks the proceeds of that auction sale, Artforum reported in July. That claim stretches back nearly five decades.
The Zeckendorfs filed their lawsuit against the heirs of the owners of Weis Markets, the US grocery chain, The Real Deal reported on 14 July. The case was first reported by Crain’s New York in New York.
What makes this stand out for a general reader is the paperwork. Provenance, the documented chain of ownership, decides who is paid when an older work reappears at auction.
The money is now the fight. The Weis side puts the value at US$4 million and denies wrongdoing. The Zeckendorf side wants the sale funds.
