Birmingham law firm Shakespeares has played its part in the sale of a painting by Camille Pissarro, which broke a new record for the artist’s work when it was sold at auction for almost £20 million.

Shakespeares acted for the estate of the late owner of the painting, which was sold at Sotheby’s in London for £19.7 million, a record price for a work by the artist at auction.

The painting – Boulevard Montmartre, matinee de printemps – is thought to be one of the finest impressionist paintings to come to auction for more than a decade.

Prior to that the painting became the first in history to be returned to the relative of a Holocaust victim, following its illegal seizure by the Nazis during World War Two.

The Pissarro painting was part of the estate of Midlands woman Gerta Silberberg.

Her father-in-law, Max Silberberg, was a successful businessman in the German city of Breslau in the 1920s and 1930s (Wroclaw in modern-day Poland) where he built up a considerable collection of art.

In the 1940s the Nazis forced Mr Silberberg to sell his collection and confiscated both his business and his home.

The Pissarro sold this week was one of the artworks subject to that forced sale.

Max and his wife were deported first to Theresienstadt and, in 1942, to Auschwitz where they died.

Gerta Silberberg and her husband Freddie escaped to England and settled in Leicester. Mr Silberberg died in 1984 and Mrs Silberberg in 2013, aged 99.

Shakespeares’ partners Stephen Woolfe and John Simon acted for the Silberbergs for several years.

The opening of the German archives in the 1990s revealed the identity of individuals affected by the confiscation of Jewish-owned property during the war.

Many heirs of Holocaust victims were then able to seek the recovery of their property taken by the Nazis and in 1999 Mrs Silberberg was the first relative of a Holocaust victim to have a piece of artwork restored to her.

The Pissarro was restituted to her in 2001 by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem where, by agreement, it remained on display until her death. The painting had been donated to the museum by a US donor after passing through various hands after World War Two.

Shakespeares partner John Simon, who knew Mrs Silberberg for more than 60 years, said: “Gerta was happy to recover what was rightfully hers when the painting was restored to her, but very much regretted that her husband was unable to benefit from the wealth that gave her.

"Myself and the team have been proud to act for her estate over the years and to see the painting finally sold.”