Excerpted from original Story – After 17 years of searching and battling in New York courts, the grandson of a Jewish gallery owner who was despoiled by the Nazis has won his case. On the phone, he says he is “moved” on behalf of his grandfather.
“After all these years of legal proceedings, what the Germans did to my grandfather has just been righted. I am especially happy for him and for his memory,”, he told us. On Thursday, April 3, the New York Supreme Court ordered that a painting by Modigliani, looted from his grandfather Oscar Stettiner during the Occupation, be restituted to his only grandson, who resides in the Dordogne.
It took 17 years of battling a team of American lawyers working on behalf of the major art collector David Nahmad to achieve this victory. “It took a very long time, but it shows that justice exists,” adds Philippe Maestracci, who cannot help but think “of all the other anonymous families who were despoiled” who were not as fortunate.
In 2008, when the Nahmad collection attempted to put the Modigliani back up for sale – this time at Sotheby’s – the auction house raised questions. It contacted the Wildenstein Institute in New York, which confirmed the gaps in the work’s provenance. With such a history, the Modigliani could no longer find a buyer. But at least one person, James Palmer, had identified the painting’s trail through the market. As head of a Canadian company, Mondex Corporation, Palmer specializes in provenance research and the legal defense of heirs to families who were despoiled families.
“I also work for justice and remembrance,” James Palmer often says, suggesting that beyond business, he has become deeply involved in the broader effort to redress the spoliations of Jewish families. Today, his persistence inspires admiration from Philippe Maestracci: “Palmer is extraordinary! He even found previously unseen family photos,” he tells us.
In August 2025, Mondex made a major breakthrough in the case. Their French lawyer filed a set of 54 pieces of evidence with the New York State Supreme Court—evidence discovered by researchers several years earlier and painstakingly identified. Among the documents was a “note” from the Paris archives dating from 1950, on which appeared the terms “stolen,” “Stettiner family,” “search in America.” From that point on, the American judges decided to step up their efforts, and nine months later ordered the Nahmad Collection to return the painting. “17 years of litigation, marked by constant obstacles and systematic resistance… this decision is a victory for perseverance and fighting spirit,” commented Mélina Wolman (Pinsent Masons), one of the Mondex lawyers leading the case. These “obstacles” have left a bitter taste for Philippe Maestracci: “It seems to me that David Nahmad did not behave in a manner befitting a great collector,” he said.