NEW YORK—Sotheby's withdrew its request Wednesday to sell about $2 million of art connected to Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, CNN reports.

Harold A. Olsen, an attorney for Sotheby's, filed a notice with the court overseeing Salander-O'Reilly's bankruptcy case after creditors from the gallery questioned whether the auction house had the right to sell the art, the ownership of which is unclear.

Sotheby's had asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in November to let it sell Old Masters connected to the gallery—including Presentation in the Temple by Luca Signorelli, which Sotheby's estimated at at least $800,000—at auction in January.

According to a committee representing Salander-O'Reilly's unsecured creditors, the gallery's books and records have been impounded by law enforcement authorities, and confirmation of Sotheby's claims of ownership or lender status is impossible.