A pastel painting by French artist Edgar Degas has become the centre of a prolonged legal dispute over a Jewish couple's art collection looted by the Nazis in 1935. The work, titled Danseuses, belonged to Margret and Ludwig Kainer before it was seized and sold during the Nazi era. After passing through art dealers and galleries in the international art market, the painting was sold privately for $6 million in 2009 before fetching $10.7 million at a Christie's auction in New York. The couple's purported heirs have challenged the transactions, arguing that their inheritance rights were overlooked. On June 4, 2026, a New York appellate court lifted a years-long pause on their lawsuit against Christie's, allowing the case to proceed.
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