This Van Gogh painting on display at Detroit Institute of Arts was stolen, lawsuit claims

DETROIT – As the Detroit Institute of Arts’ “Van Gogh in America” exhibition approaches its closing date of Jan. 22, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that a stolen painting is on display in the museum as part of the show.

The lawsuit filed in Detroit federal court claims Brazilian art collector Gustavo Soter purchased “Une Liseuse De Romans” – also known as “The Novel Reader” – for $3.7 million in 2017, and Soter estimates that its value now exceeds $5 million.

Soter, identified in the lawsuit as the sole member of Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC, purchased the painting in 2017 and immediately transferred possession – but not the title – to a third party, the lawsuit reads.

“This party absconded with the painting, and (Soter) has been unaware of its whereabouts for years," the filing continues, alleging Soter retains the painting's title. "Recently, however, (Soter) learned that the painting was in the possession of the DIA, apparently on loan from a private collection.”

Following the suit being filed, a federal judge ordered the painting in the exhibition not be moved, pending a court hearing.

Update:Judge orders DIA not to move Van Gogh painting after lawsuit claims it was stolen

U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh on Wednesday set a Jan. 19 hearing for oral arguments in the case, and until then: "The Detroit Institute of Arts is hereby ordered to refrain from damaging, destroying, concealing, disposing, moving, or using as to substantially impair its value, the item.'"

The 1888 painting, done in oil on canvas, depicts a young woman reading a yellow book before a yellowed library background. The DIA’s exhibition identifies the piece as being borrowed from a private collection in São Paulo, Brazil.

The lawsuit states that “immediate action is urgently needed,” and demands the piece be returned to Soter before the exhibition ends so that it does not go back to unnamed the party who loaned it to the museum.

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"This exhibition is scheduled to end on January 22, 2023. At that time, the painting will be moved or transferred to a third-party, depriving (Soter) of the opportunity to recover its rightful property," the lawsuit argues, asking the court to grant the plaintiff "immediate possession of the painting or a judgment for the value of the painting."

The DIA issued the following statement:

“The Detroit Institute of Arts, like all AAM-accredited museums, regularly enters into loan agreements with other national and international museums and collections. Before agreeing to international loans to the DIA, the museum follows best practices. This includes the research of ownership from scholarly sources, the Art Loss Register, and, where applicable, the U.S. Federal Register."

It remained unclear Wednesday what institution or collector loaned the piece to the DIA.

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"Van Gogh in America" opened Oct. 2 as a historic gathering of 74 works by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh with the endorsement of the artist's descendants and the official Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The pieces are borrowed from more than 50 sources around the world; the exhibition is a DIA exclusive and will not travel anywhere else when it closes in Detroit. Since its opening, it has drawn more than 100,000 visitors from all 50 states and many foreign countries.

Reach reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Van Gogh painting at Detroit Institute of Arts was stolen: Lawsuit