New Lawsuit Alleges Stolen Pierre Soulages Painting Sold at Christie’s as Part of Weis Collection
A lawsuit filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court alleges that Pierre Soulages’s 1958 painting Peinture 161 x 200 cm, 14 novembre 1958 was stolen from the Zeckendorf family decades ago and was later sold at Christie’s for just under $5 million in November during an evening sale of the Weis Collection. The plaintiffs—William Lie Zeckendorf, Arthur W. Zeckendorf, James Nicholson, and Leslie Nicholson—claim the work disappeared between 1977 and 1980, was listed on the Art Loss Register from 2008 to 2025, and they are seeking the sale proceeds from defendants Jennifer Weis, Collen Ross Weis, and Jonathan Weis as representatives of the estate of Patricia R. Weis. Christie’s provenance states the painting was sold by Kootz Gallery to Marion Zeckendorf and later passed through Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery before being sold to Patricia G. Ross Weis and Robert F. Weis in 1984, but the complaint argues that timeline is inconsistent with estate records and deaths of key individuals. Weis Markets declined to comment, and attorneys for the Zeckendorf family also declined further comment.
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This story was covered in Lost Masters, Looted Legacies, and Monument Rollbacks