A court settlement has transferred ownership of a painting by expressionist Chaim Soutine from the National Gallery of Art to the estate of a Canadian woman who had sued the Washington, D.C., museum.

"Piece of Beef," a vividly realistic depiction of a side of raw beef, had been in the museum's permanent collection since acquiring it in 2004.

Last May, the museum and two Soutine experts, Maurice Tuchman and Esti Dunow, were sued by the estate of Lorette Jolles Shefner of Montreal. The estate accused the experts of tricking her into selling the 1923 painting for $1 million _ below market value _ and then reselling it for twice the amount to the museum in 2004.

The museum was accused of failing to investigate how the two men came to own the artwork. They were described in court papers as Manhattan art dealers, scholars and authors of several books on Soutine, including a compilation of all his known works.

"Piece of Beef" is the last in a series of 10 beef carcass paintings that Soutine painted.

The lawsuit said the two men also failed to disclose to Shefner, who died in 2007, comparable works by Soutine that were sold in 2004, including a still life for $5 million and a portrait for about $6 million. It charged that the museum did not consult the book that cataloged all his works and therefore did not identify Shefner as the painting's last owner.

The settlement last Friday returns ownership of the painting to the estate, which in turn has agreed to lend it to the museum for seven years or until the estate decides to sell it. The National Gallery received about $2 million under the settlement, the amount it paid for the painting.

Neither the museum nor the lawyer for Tuchman and Dunow responded to telephone or e-mail requests for comment.

Soutine was born in Russia and moved to Paris in 1913 where he associated with such great artists as Amadeo Modigliani and Marc Chagall. He painted distorted figures and apocalyptic landscapes in broad brush strokes and vivid colors. Often unsatisfied with his own work, he was known to destroy many of his pieces.

In 2007, his "The Man in the Red Scarf" sold for $17.2 million at a Sotheby's auction in London.

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On the Net:

http://www.nga.gov

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