NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The ownership of tens of billions of dollars of art and other goods could be thrown into doubt if a lawsuit seeking the return of a famous Vincent Van Gogh painting is successful, according to a court filing by Yale University.
The Ivy League university sued in federal court in March to assert its ownership rights over “The Night Cafe” and to block a descendant of the original owner from claiming it. Pierre Konowaloff is the purported great-grandson of industrialist and aristocrat Ivan Morozov, who bought the painting in 1908.
Russia nationalized Morozov’s property during the Communist Revolution. The painting, which the Soviet government later sold, has been hanging in the Yale University Art Gallery for almost 50 years.
Any federal court invalidation of Russian nationalization decrees from the early 20th century would create “significant tensions” between the U.S. and the Russian Federation, Yale argues. Konowaloff’s attorney calls that argument “ridiculous.”
