It’s been a few weeks since the House passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (H.R. 4086) and sent it on to the Senate for consideration as S.B. 2212. It has bipartisan sponsorship there (Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch), but no word yet on when it will be put to a vote. As… Continue Reading
Category Archives: World War II
Subscribe to World War II RSS FeedVon Saher claim against Norton Simon Museum dismissed as preempted under foreign affairs doctrine.
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, Uncategorized, World War IIRaising another hurdle to restitution claims, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against the Norton Simon Museum to the remnants of the famed Jacques Goudstikker collection, on the grounds that her case is preempted by the United States’ foreign affairs doctrine. In an unusually apologetic decision, the court ruled that regardless of the merits… Continue Reading
Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act: House Votes to Amend FSIA to Exclude Artwork Loan as Basis for Jurisdiction
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Restitution, Uncategorized, World War IIThe House of Representatives approved the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act on March 19, 2012, to remove the display of a work of art in the United States as basis to sue a foreign sovereign here. The law touches on important distinctions between immunity from suit—when a party cannot be sued at all—from… Continue Reading
Poster Collection Seized by Nazis Ordered Returned by German High Court
Posted in Collections, Restitution, World War IICatherine Hickley of Bloomberg reports today from Berlin about a court-ordered return of more than 4,000 once owned by Hans Sachs, a Jewish dentist chased out of Nazi Germany. The Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) is Germany’s highest civil court, and handed down the decision. At one time, Sachs’s collection had more than 12,000 posters by artist… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Negotiations Over Russian Library Fail, Renewed Request for Contempt Sought
Posted in Collections, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAfter months of inactivity and intimations of a possible settlement, the Chabad plaintiffs seeking the return of the Schneerson library have had enough, and have renewed their request to the District Court to sanction the defendants who have not complied with prior orders to return the library. A brief recap: various Russian state libraries have… Continue Reading
The 2nd Circuit Pulls Back on the Reach of the FSIA, Upholds Dismissal of Claim Against Switzerland for Van Gogh Drawing
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAfter recent expansions of the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has narrowed that statute’s route of access to the courthouse again. The 2nd Circuit affirmed on November 30, 2011 the District Court’s March 11, 2011 dismissalof Andrew Orkin’s claims to recover a Vincent Van Gogh drawing against the… Continue Reading
Full Appeal of Herzog Heirs’ Case Against Hungarian Museums Allowed
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAs discussed earlier in the Art Law Report, the Herzog heirs’ case against several Hungarian national museums survived dismissal (apart from their claims to 11 paintings whose ownership was litigated in Hungary previously). The remaining question was how much of the case would be heard on appeal: only the narrow question of Hungary’s sovereign immunity,… Continue Reading
“Flagellation of Christ” to be Returned to Germany
Posted in Restitution, World War IICapping today’s restitution news, word that a painting stolen in connection with World War II is being returned to Germany. The 15th-century “Flagellation of Christ” by an unknown artist of the Cologne School was taken from the Jagdschloss Grunewald outside Berlin by soldiers in the aftermath of the war. Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana ultimately… Continue Reading
Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin Returns Schmidt-Rotluff Paintings to Graetz Heirs
Posted in Restitution, World War IIThe regional government of Berlin has decided to return two paintings by German Expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rotluff to the heirs of the paintings’ one-time owner (article in German). As reported by Catherine Hickley of Bloomberg in Berlin, the paintings, a 1920 self-portrait and a 1910 landscape entitled “Farm in Dangast” once belonged to Robert Graetz, a… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Plaintiffs Put Request for Sanctions on Hold
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe Chabad Lubavitch plaintiffs who have been trying for more than six years to obtain the return of the library of Menachem Schneerson—a case which has resulted in an embargo of Russian art loans to the United States for nearly a year—took the unexpected step this week of asking the court to refrain from ruling… Continue Reading
Herzog Case Against Hungarian Museums Focuses on Issues to Be Appealed
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIWith the recent decision in the Baron Herzog case dismissing some claims but allowing the bulk of the case to go forward, the next step is determining what issues can be appealed now. Typically, only a final judgment can be appealed. That is, even if the defendant was right about why the case should… Continue Reading
Hungarian World War II Restitution Case Will Go Forward
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe United States District Court has allowed significant parts of the claim brought by claimed heirs of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog to go forward. The decision is significant for several reasons. First, it is the most prominent restitution case currently at the trial level, and the case will now proceed into discovery of the facts. Second,… Continue Reading
The Met Joins Russian Art Embargo Dispute
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIIn the latest development in one of this year’s farthest-reaching art law issues, the Metropolitian Museum of Art announced in August that it will no longer lend its works of art within the Russian Federation so long as the Russian embargo on U.S. loans persists. The Met had planned to loan works by French designer Paul… Continue Reading
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