NEW HAVEN, Conn.— The litigation in the case of a Van Gogh painting at Yale has turned into suit versus countersuit. In March the university went to court in a preemptive attempt to protect its claim to The Night Café. But the target of Yale’s suit, Pierre Konowaloff, has now launched a suit of his own, saying he’s the descendant of the former owner of the painting that was unlawfully seized during the Communist takeover of Russia  and therefore it belongs to him.

The Night Café was later sold to galleries in Europe and New York and eventually bequeathed to Yale in 1961, according to court papers. Konowaloff’s suit says Yale assumed control of the painting knowing “it had been unlawfully confiscated or 'nationalized' without compensation" and doesn’t have a legitimate title to it. For its part, Yale says sales of artwork "nationalized" by the Soviet Union were valid and that the painting was a legitimate gift from an Yale alumnus.

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