A reminder of this Thursday’s event, all the more timely as the Gurlitt collection fallout continues: DePaul University College of Law Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law will host a symposium on November 14, 2013 entitled “Restitution and Repatriation: the Return of Cultural Objects.” A similar conference could not be held last year because… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Restitution
Subscribe to Restitution RSS FeedFirst List of Art Found in Gurlitt Collection is Released, Website Overwhelmed as Claimants Consider Legal Options
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe German government has released an initial list of twenty five works among the collection seized from the Munich (Schwabing) apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the most significant discovery of possibly looted art since the end of World War II. The list is posted at www.lostart.de, a hitherto little-known website of the Coordination Point for Cultural… Continue Reading
German Federal Government Wants Gurlitt Collection Made Public, Some May Have Come to U.S., More Art Seized in Stuttgart, Cornelius Gurlitt Spotted in Munich After Bizarre Request for Anonymity
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe fire hose of Gurlitt collection information continues unabated. For stellar reporting keep track of Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal in English, the FAZ and Der Spiegel in German. We’ll continue to track the legal fallout of the facts as the journalists continue to uncover them. As we expected, the German federal government is… Continue Reading
German Museums Join in Demands for More Information About Gurlitt; Links to the Amber Room Theorized; Dix Painting Was Not Unknown
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Museums, Restitution, World War IIDer Spiegel reports today (link in German) about how German museums are joining the chorus of frustration about the lack of information about the Hildebrand and Cornelius Gurlitt collection find. From this perspective, this development is not a surprise. I was speaking to an international law class last night at Sarah Lawrence College, and one… Continue Reading
Focus Turns to Hildebrand Gurlitt’s Postwar Interrogation; Cornelius Gurlitt’s Whereabouts. Belvedere Official Questions Whether Collection Was Really a Secret
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe focus has turned today on the whereabouts of the mysterious Cornelius Gurlitt, who is unaccounted for as the biggest restitution story since the end of World War II unfolds. Asked if it was even known if Gurlitt was still alive Bavarian prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz would not even comment. There is an explosive claim… Continue Reading
Hildebrand Gurlitt Interview Transcript is Located
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe Commission for Looted Art in Europe has located the transcript of the interview taken of Hildebrand Gurlitt at the end of World War II, concerning the bulk of what now seems to have been found in his son’s apartment. Gurlitt denies buying art in France. The document is linked above.
“Here and Now”: Questions Remain About Nazi-Looted Art Trove
Posted in Events, Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIIn case you missed it live, WBUR’s “Here and Now” has posted the story and audio from today’s interview about the Cornelius Gurlitt Nazi-looted art find.
Merkel Hints at Putting Gurlitt Lists Online, Calls for Special Tribunal Are Made
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IICatherine Hickley reports from Berlin that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel is looking into ways to put lists and/or photographs online concerning the Cornelius Gurlitt seizure of roughly 1,400 paintings with connections to Nazi looting. This followed heavy complaints in the first days of the revelation, that the government had failed to identify what… Continue Reading
“Here and Now” on WBUR Tomorrow to Discuss Gurlitt Nazi Art Find in Munich
Posted in Events, Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War III’ll be a guest on “Here and Now” on WBUR (syndicated nationally, and available for live streaming on WBUR’s website) tomorrow between noon at 1:00 pm to discuss this week’s discovery of nearly 1,400 paintings had been found in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt two years ago (and ongoing updates), and the theme of Nazi… Continue Reading
New Details, More Questions Than Answers in Gurlitt Nazi-Tinged Painting Find in Munich
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe Bavarian prosecutor held a press conference today to discuss the revelation this weekend in Focus that nearly 1,400 paintings had been found in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt two years ago, after he aroused suspicion by bringing a large amount of cash back into Germany from Switzerland in 2010. This continues to shape… Continue Reading
Paintings Targeted by the Nazis Found in Munich, Could be Biggest Discovery Since the War. What Now?
Posted in Gurlitt Collection, Restitution, World War IIThe German magazine Focus broke a story over the weekend that could be the biggest restitution news since Portrait of Wally or Altmann v. Republic of Austria: roughly 1,400 paintings were found in a Munich apartment that may have been seized, looted, or sold bought under duress by the Nazis in the 1930s as part… Continue Reading
Dispute Over “Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl” by Gustav Klimt on Loan to the National Gallery in London—Calls for Restitution Actually Put International Respect for Final Judicial Awards (and Other Claims) at Risk
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIA recent loan to the National Gallery in London has grabbed headlines discussing the history of the painting, Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, by Gustav Klimt, surrounding World War II and the persecution of Jews in Austria. Somewhat puzzlingly, the coverage has downplayed the fact that that very painting was already the subjective of an exhaustive… Continue Reading
Lawsuit Against Sotheby’s for Nazi-tainted Art Sale Dismissed; Why it Was Filed in California at all Remains Unclear
Posted in Auctions, Collections, RestitutionA federal court in California has dismissed a claim by a buyer against Sotheby’s that alleged that the auction house sold him a work whose title was clouded because Hermann Göring had once owned it. What seemed liked a interesting new theory of liability was dismissed because the buyer had agreed in advance to litigate any… Continue Reading
Bloomberg Law Publishes My Article on the Chabad Case and Russian Art Loan Embargo
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Publications, RestitutionMy article “Chabad Library Case and Russian Art Loan Embargo Roil International Waters” was published in the June 4, 2013 edition of Bloomberg BNA – The United State Law Week. My article reviews the history of the Chabad Lubavitch library dispute and its impact on international relations and the art world. The article is linked… Continue Reading
Speakers List for ARCA Art & Heritage Conference Released
Posted in Cultural Property, Events, Restitution, World War IIARCA (Association for Research into Crimes Against Art) has released the Speakers list for next month’s Art & Heritage Conference June 21-23 in Amelia, Italy. I will be presenting on the history of World War II restitution litigation in the United States, its effectiveness, and its prospects for the future. The full list is below. Hope to… Continue Reading
Presentation to the 5th Annual ARCA Art Crime Conference June 21-23, 2013
Posted in Cultural Property, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War III will be speaking at the 5th annual Art Crime Conference held by ARCA (Association for Research into Crimes Against Art) in Amelia, Italy between June 21-23, 2013. My talk will address Holocaust restitution litigation in the United States, similar to the paper I gave in Maastricht in March but covering important more recent developments as… Continue Reading
DC Circuit Reinstates All Claims that Were Dismissed in Herzog Case Against Hungary-UPDATED
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe DC Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the entire set of claims brought by the Herzog heirs against the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Applied Arts, and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The appellate decision focuses on the claim that an agreement was reached after WWII… Continue Reading
Art and Heritage Disputes at the University of Maastricht
Posted in Cultural Property, Restitution, UncategorizedOn March 24-25, 2013, I will be attending the Art and Heritage Disputes at the University of Maastricht. The seminar website is here: On March 25, I will speak on the topic “American Wartime Art Restitution in the 1990s and Beyond-Has it All Been Worth It?” The program highlights many other experts I look forward… Continue Reading
MFA and Harvard To Keep Iranian Antiquities, FSIA/Seizure Questions for Museums Left Unanswered
Posted in Antiquities, Cultural Property, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Museums, RestitutionThe First Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a win for the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Harvard University concerning possession of a number of Iranian antiquities. The ruling left open, however, some interesting questions about the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). In particular, the First Circuit did not have to rule on whether antiquities… Continue Reading
President Putin Vows to Keep Chabad Library in Russia
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, RestitutionBacking off some of the more belligerent comments made recently by the Foreign Ministry, Russian President Vladimir Putin has nonetheless signalled that Russia has no plans to return the Chabad library to comply with a 2010 judgment or the more recent sanctions order. Both Reuters and the Art Newspaper reported that Putin proposed to store… Continue Reading
Russia Swiftly Lashes Out At Sanctions Concerning Schneerson/Chabad Library, U.S. Government Still Silent
Posted in Cultural Property, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIDespite refusing to participate in a lawsuit for nearly three years since a judgment that ordered the return to the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn of the late Rebbe Menachem Schneerson’s library, the Russian Federation swiftly spoke up when news came of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s order yesterday sanctioning and… Continue Reading
Russia Sanctioned $50,000 per day for Defiance of Chabad Library Judgment that Led to Art and Cultural Loan Embargo
Posted in Cultural Property, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Restitution, World War IIIn a case that has tested the principles of how a defiant sovereign defendant can be compelled to comply with a court order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has taken an emphatic step in an order issued today. The Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications, the Russian… Continue Reading
Senate Bill 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Unexpectedly Dies in Committee
Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212Senate Bill 2212, previously passed by the House of Representatives, seemed to be gathering steam as 2012 came to a close. In November and December bipartisan sponsors were signing on, with no publicly-known opposition as it waited for a Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing. Yet the New Year has come and gone—and with it… Continue Reading
The Art Law Report to Present Paper in Maastricht, the Netherlands
Posted in Events, Restitution, World War III will be in Maastricht, the Netherlands, on March 24-25, 2013 at the Art and Heritage Law Conference to present my forthcoming paper to be published in the Special Issue of Transnational Dispute Management, “Art and Heritage Disputes.” The paper (and my presentation) will re-assess the effectiveness of American litigation in the last 15 years… Continue Reading
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