Suit Seeking Van Gogh Work, $250 Million From Sompo Dismissed

The purported heirs of a German art collector persecuted by Nazis lost their bid in an Illinois federal district court to recover a Vincent Van Gogh painting sold to Japanese insurance company Sompo Holdings Inc.

Victims of Nazi persecution can sue to recover property stolen or misappropriated from 1933 to 1945 under the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act.

In this case, however, the the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a Monday opinion said it lacked subject-matter and personal jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ claims against Sompo, granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss the suit.

The art ...