Explore the Claim for restitution and provenance of this artwork.
Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy probably acquired the painting c.1910. Shortly before his death in 1935, he wrote a will bequeathing it to his non-Jewish wife, Countess Else Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Kesselstett (née Lavergne-Paguilhen) who sold it to Walter Feilchenfeldt in 1949. Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney then acquired the painting on 13 January 1950 for $30,000.In 2004, Professor Julius H Schoeps challenged the 1949 sale of Boy with a Pipe due to circumstances related to the Nazi persecution of the Jewish owner and his attempts to shield the painting from seizure via his non-Jewish wife.On 5 May 2004 the painting was sold for $104,168,000 at Sotheby's auction in New York City. Sotheby’s did not name the buyer though sources say that it was Guido Barilla, co-owner of the Barilla Group. At the time, it broke the record for the amount paid for an auctioned painting (when inflation is ignored). The amount, $104 million, includes the auction price of $93 million plus the auction house’s commission of about $11 million.  The painting was given a pre-sale estimate of $70 million by the auction house.
New York City Barilla Group John Hay Whitney Nazi Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Sotheby's auction inflation Guido Barilla