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Article snippet: AMSTERDAM — It was 1937, Vienna, when a Jewish couple named Heinrich and Anna Maria Graf bought a vibrant 18th-century oil painting of Venice’s Grand Canal with the Punta Della Dogana in the background. The work held pride of place in their living room, the highlight of their small but treasured art collection. One year later, Germany annexed Austria, and the Grafs and their twin 6-year-old daughters, Erika and Eva, were forced to flee the country. They put their art into storage and left for Italy, then France — where Heinrich was held for more than a year in an internment camp for Jews — then Spain and Portugal and ultimately New York. By the time they were settled in Forest Hills, Queens, it was 1942, and all their possessions had been looted by the Nazis. The prized painting became the focus of a 70-year recovery effort by the Graf family and its heirs — and one that is now ending on an ambivalent note. Sotheby’s in London is preparing to sell the work, by the 18th-century artist Michele Marieschi, at an old master auction in July following a restitution settlement between the heirs and a trust on behalf of the now-deceased owner, whose identity has not been released. The auction house has estimated the painting’s value at $650,000 to $905,000. This painful and circuitous history reflects how looted artworks that have been in private hands for decades are now coming to market after settlement agreements with the rightful owners, in a way that tries to address... Link to the full article to read more