A New York judge has awarded interest to the estate of a Jewish art dealer in its decade-long legal battle with art dealer David Nahmad over a Nazi-looted painting by Amedeo Modigliani, according to ARTnews (ARTnews).

The ruling is the latest chapter in a case called Greason v Nahmad, which centres on a Modigliani painting titled "Seated Man With..." The plaintiff, Philip Greason, acts as Ancillary Administrator — a court-appointed role overseeing the estate of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer. Greason contends the painting was improperly seized from Stettiner by the Nazi-controlled French government (New York Courts).

In April 2026, Justice Joel M. Cohen of the New York Supreme Court ruled that Nahmad must return the painting. The decision was reported by The Art Newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on 6 April 2026. The official legal citation is 2026 NY Slip Op 50461(U) (New York Courts).

The case has been tangled enough to attract attention far beyond the art world. The Modigliani painting was linked to the Panama Papers investigation — the massive leak of offshore financial records that ICIJ published in 2016 — because of the corporate structures through which Nahmad held the work (ICIJ).

The dispute has run for roughly a decade. Restitution cases — legal proceedings to return property stolen or seized, often during the Nazi era — can move slowly because they require courts to reconstruct ownership histories through war, displacement and generations of transfers.

The interest award, reported on 30 July 2026, builds on Justice Cohen's April ruling that ordered the painting's return. It means the estate is entitled to additional money on top of the painting itself, calculated for the period during which the court found the work was wrongfully withheld.

David Nahmad is a prominent art dealer, part of a family whose collection and dealings have featured regularly in auction and market reporting. The Modigliani at the centre of this dispute is one of thousands of works worldwide whose wartime provenance — the documented chain of ownership — remains the subject of legal and historical scrutiny.