Lessons on Auction Houses from Sotheby’s and the Case of the Stolen Renoir

By Hanoch Sheps, J.D.*

Though not all art-related thefts involve multimillion dollar artworks – as portrayed in The Thomas Crown Affair remake – the theft and subsequent recent auction of a painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir raises a question of liability for auction houses that unwittingly offer stolen works of all kinds of media and value.

The controversy surrounding the recent sale of a stolen Impressionist painting dates back to August 2000, when Renoir’s Madame Valtat (reproduced here), a painting amongst a number of other reputable artworks, was reported as stolen from a Japanese collector. The 1903 painting depicts the wife of French fauvist Louis Valtat and portrays Madame Valtat (born Suzanne Noël) in a guarded pose.

The painting resurfaced when an anonymous consignor offered it in Sotheby’s February 2013 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London. The piece realized a £1,049,250 ($1.61 million) hammer price; however, the original owner, is seeking the return of this work.  If the work is returned, what is Sotheby’s potential liability to the buyer?