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Sophie Lissitzky-Kueppers, a German art historian, inherited the painting, Sumpflegende (Swamp Legend), in 1922. She loaned it to Hanover's Provinzialmuseum in 1926 shortly before emigrating to Russia to join her future husband, El Lissitzky, in 1927.

The Nazis seized the work from the museum in 1937 for their "Degenerate Art" exhibition in Munich, and Munich officials argue now that paintings stolen for the exhibition are not included in international guidelines for the restitution of looted art. Germany is one of 44 governments that signed the non-binding Washington Principles outlining "just and fair" settlement practices for such cases.

“Such paintings were not seized from private homes but taken from the museums,” said a representative for Munich Mayor Christian Ude. A court decision in 1993 already rejected the heirs' claim.

The work changed hands several times after the Nazi exhibition and was eventually acquired by the city of Munich and a private foundation in 1982. It has hung in the city's Lenbachhaus museum since then.

Described during the "Degenerate Art" show as the "confusion" and "disorder" of a "mentally ill person," the work is now insured for €4 million ($5.12 million).

The heirs' lawyer, Christoph von Berg of Von Berg Bandekow Zorn in Leipzig, said in a statement that his clients plan to pursue the claim with the assistance of the New York–based Holocaust Claims Processing Office and through the civil courts in the U.S.

“We conclude that the claim for restitution is justified both legally and under the Washington Principles,” he said.