The Art Law Report Providing timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities

Monthly Archives: June 2012

Government Tries to Save “Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer” Case Against St. Louis Art Museum, but Did U.S. Miss Its Own Deadline?

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Civil Forfeiture, Collections, Customs, Restitution

After the U.S. District Court denied the government’s Motion to Reconsider its earlier dismissal of the claim to the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer in the St. Louis Museum of Art, the government has tried another procedure to revive the case, one that is normally unremarkable.  A review of the filings in the case raises the question, however,… Continue Reading

Best Case for Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (S.B. 2212) May Have been Made by its Sponsors

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, World War II

Perhaps lost in the coverage about Senate Bill 2212 (the Art Law Report no less than anyone else) to amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to preclude claims against defendants whose “commercial activity” is limited to the loan of artwork whose ownership is in dispute, is the case made by the sponsors of the bill… Continue Reading

The Other Von Saher Shoe Drops: Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain Dismissed Under Foreign Affairs Preemption

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Preemption, Restitution, World War II

An emerging new defense to wartime art restitution claims has claimed another case.  Although still confined to one district in California, the trend of dismissing such claims as better suited to resolution through the foreign affairs operations of the federal government simply cannot be ignored; wartime claims already struggling to overcome statutes of limitations could… Continue Reading

UPDATE: Court Denies Government’s Request to Amend Case to Reclaim Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer from St. Louis Art Museum

By Nicholas O'Donnell on Posted in Collections, Customs

Fresh on the heels of our coverage here and here and in the Atlantic, the U.S. District Court in St. Louis has rejected the U.S. government’s efforts to save its case to reclaim the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer.  After the case was dismissed in April, the government asked the court for permission to amend the complaint to… Continue Reading