The heirs of the Jewish banker and collector Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy are continuing their court battle against a Japanese insurance company to reclaim Vincent van Gogh's painting Sunflowers (1888-89), valued at $250m. Sompo, once called Yasuda, bought the painting in 1987 for a then-record $25m at a London Christie’s auction. According to the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy heirs, the Yasuda corporate entity did not acknowledge provenance evidence that named Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy as a previous owner. Daniel Graham, a lawyer for Sompo, argued that because Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sold the painting at auction, it didn’t fit the description of “Nazi-confiscated” art. Graham further asserted that the heirs’ legal team mischaracterised the Hear Act in its argument.