Paintings by Beckmann, Gris and Klee Valued at Nearly $20 Million That Once Belonged to Flechtheim Are at Issue in New York Lawsuit
Sullivan & Worcester LLP has filed suit against Bavaria and its state museums in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of our clients Dr. Michael Hulton and Mrs. Penny Hulton, heirs to the renowned and persecuted Jewish art dealer Alfred Flechtheim. The Hultons have asked the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to restitute several paintings by Max Beckmann, Paul Klee, and Juan Gris that are now in the possession of the German federal state of Bavaria, Adolf Hitler’s and the Nazi party’s homeland, and its Bavarian State Paintings Collections (known in German as the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, or BSGS). We are aided in this case by our co-counsel Markus Stoetzel and Mel Urbach, Esq.
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Topics:
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Deutschlandradio. Deutsche Presse Agentur,
Monuments Men,
Nazi-looted art,
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,
Max Beckmann,
Markus Stoetzel,
Mel Urbach,
Paul Klee,
FSIA,
Gurlitt,
NS Raubkunst,
Restitution,
Bavaria,
Sullivan & Worcester LLP,
World War II,
Alfred Flechteim,
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen,
Dr. Michael Hulton,
Juan Gris,
George Grosz
Three New Members Are Added but German Museums Can Still Decline to Participate
After nearly a year of hinting at changes the Advisory Commission in Germany that makes recommendations to state museums on claims for allegedly Nazi-looted works in their collections (“Beratende Kommission im Zusammenhang mit der Rückgabe NS-verfolgungsbedingt entzogener Kulturgüter, insbesondere aus jüdischem Besitz,” or “Advisory Commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, especially Jewish property”), the federal government announced last week the addition of three new members. Yet despite public outcry over the outdated and opaque procedures of the commission (better known as the Limbach Commission, in reference to the late Jutta Limbach, presiding member and former judge of the Constitutional Court), none of the fundamental flaws in the panel have been confronted or addressed. Instead, the occasion has served as little more than another photo opportunity for federal Minister of Culture Monika Grütters, whose visage dutifully accompanies all the recent announcements.
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Topics:
Legislation,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
Stefan Koldehoff,
Beratende Kommission,
Gurlitt,
NS Raubkunst,
Restitution,
Bavarian State Paintings Collection,
Looted Art,
World War II,
Süddeutsche Zeitung,
Monika Grütters,
Limbach Commission,
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen,
Raphael Gross,
Gary Smith,
Marion Eckart-Hofer,
Simon Dubnow Institute,
American Academy in Berlin,
Rudiger Mahlo,
Jewish Claims Conference
The revelation that Bavaria re-sold looted artworks to Nazi families while giving victims and their heirs the run-around for years has clearly touched a nerve at the Bavarian State Paintings Collection (the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, or BSGS). Days after the Sueddeutsche Zeitung exposed that the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE) had given the lie to years of deception by the BSGS, the BSGS issued a long, rambling, and defensive statement in defense of its actions. The statement is a classic case of misdirection. Reaction to the story and the BSGS response can be found at the Observerand the Telegraph.
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Topics:
Bayern,
Nazi-looted art,
Commission for Looted Art in Europe,
Restitution,
Bavaria,
World War II,
Raubkunst,
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
A conference was held last week at the Oskar Reinhart Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland, entitled “Fluchtgut: Geschichte, Recht und Moral” (Flight Goods: History, Law and Morality). The objective conference was described in its program as follows (my translation):
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Topics:
Expressionist,
Esther Tisa Francini,
Allied Collecting Points,
Südkurier,
Auctions,
Florian Weiland,
Oskar Reinhart Museum,
Dresden,
Karl Schmidt-Rotluff,
Nazi-looted art,
Robert Graetz,
Buchholz Gallery,
German Advisory Commission for the Return of Cultu,
Winterthur,
Entartete Kunst,
Beratende Kommission,
Curt Valentin,
Restitution,
Melissa Müller,
Luzern,
Clara Levy,
Farm in Dangast,
Fluchtgut: Geschichte Recht und Moral,
Lucas Elmenhorst,
Luxembourg,
Looted Art,
World War II,
Lucerne,
Switzerland,
degenerate art,
Handelsblatt,
Lost Lives Lost Art Jewish Collectors Nazi Art The,
Galerie Fischer,
Imke Gielen,
Washingtoner Prinzipien,
Jutta Limbach,
Washington Principles,
Drei Grazien,
Flight Goods: History Law and Morality,
Lovis Corinth,
Monika Tatzkow,
Three Graces,
Bavarian State Painting Collections,
Raubkunst,
Hans Posse,
Limbach Commission,
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
The German Advisory Commission for the Return of Cultural Property Seized as a Result of Nazi Persecution, Especially Jewish Property (Beratende Kommission) has issued its latest decision concerning allegedly Nazi-looted art in German museums. For the second case in a row after the widely (and wisely) derided opinion not to restitute the Welfenschatz or Guelph Treasure at the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin, the commission (known for its presiding member, former German Supreme Constitutional Court judge Jutta Limbach) has recommended against restitution, this time over the claim by heirs of Clara Levy to The Three Graces (Drei Grazien) by Lovis Corinth (1902/1904). The decision (available only in German) is riddled with poor logic and basic historical errors. In short, while it may be that the painting was indeed delivered to Clara Levy’s daughter in the United States at Clark’s express instruction, that is far less clear than the commission states, and its decision further makes a number of assumptions about the circumstances of Jews in occupied or about-to-be occupied territories that undermine its credibility considerably.
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Topics:
Berlin,
Else Bergmann,
Schleifmühle,
Hildebrand Gurlitt,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Ludwig Levy,
Fritz Levy,
Rita Hubbard,
Germany,
Nazi-looted art,
bill of lading,
Especially Jewish Property,
Buchholz Gallery,
Madame Soler,
German Advisory Commission for the Return of Cultu,
San Francisco,
Entartete Kunst,
Beratende Kommission,
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
FSIA,
Curt Valentin,
expropriation exception”,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
Max Huggler,
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
Clara Levy,
Sigfried Rosengart,
Luxembourg,
Henry Zacharias,
Compagnie Generale Transatlantique Hol Lesquette,
World War II,
Foreign Sovereign Immunities,
Pinakothek der Moderne,
degenerate art,
beschlagnahmte Kunst,
Jutta Limbach,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Drei Grazien,
Pablo Picasso,
Lovis Corinth,
Museums,
Three Graces,
Bavarian State Painting Collections,
Federal Republic of Germany,
Paula Levy,
Kurt Buchholz,
Welfenschatz,
Limbach Commission,
New York,
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
