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 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. The painting, which the Soviet government later sold, has been hanging in the Yale University Art Gallery for almost 50 years. “Invalidating title to the painting would set US courts at odds with the Russian government and cloud title to what Konowaloff concedes is at least $20 billion of art in global commerce,” Yale's attorneys wrote in court papers filed Wednesday. It also would “imply the invalidity of title to countless billions of dollars more of other sorts of property expropriated and sold” by Russian authorities, Yale's attorney wrote. Any federal court invalidation of Russian nationalization decrees from the early 20th century would create “significant tensions” between the United States and the Russian Federation, Yale argues. Yale received the painting through a bequest from Yale alumnus Stephen Carlton Clark. The school says Clark bought the painting, which shows the inside of a nearly empty cafe, with a few customers seated at tables along the walls, from a gallery in New York City in 1933 or 1934. Konowaloff has filed court papers calling Yale's acquisition of the painting “art laundering.” He argues that Russian authorities unlawfully confiscated the painting and that the United States deemed the theft a violation of international law.
