Paul Klee's widow sold his estate for SFr120,000 two days before dying; his son sued the foundation that received it, and the case settled after four years

Paul Klee died on 29 June 1940 before Bern completed his naturalisation. His widow, Lily, held his artistic estate. She fell seriously ill in September 1946. Two days before she died on 20 September 1946, four collectors, Hans Meyer-Benteli, Hermann Rupf, Rolf Bürgi and Werner Allenbach, bought the works and Klee's library from her for SFr120,000. The purchase kept the estate from being sold off. On 24 September 1946^† the collectors transferred about 3,000 works to a new Klee-Gesellschaft. The society set up the Paul Klee Foundation in 1947 and deposited the collection in the Bern Kunstmuseum. Klee's son and sole heir, Felix, moved to Bern in 1948 and claimed his father's estate. A four-year legal fight with the foundation's trustees ended in an out-of-court settlement. The collection was split in two, both parts kept in Bern. Wikipedia gives Felix 1,450 of 4,000 works^†. The two parts were reunited in the Zentrum Paul Klee, which opened in Bern in June 2005 with the heirs, the foundation and Bernese authorities.