A reminder of this Thursday's event, all the more timely as the Gurlitt collection fallout continues:
REMINDER Restitution and Repatriation: the Return of Cultural Objects at DePaul University November 14, 2013
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on November 12, 2013 at 4:13 AM
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Center for Art, Field Museum of Natural History, Jane Levine, Stanford University, Thomas R. Kline, Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Susan Taylor, Penn Museum, David Franklin, Frank Lord, University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropol, Simon Frankel, Covington & Burling LLP, Lori Breslauer, Charles Brian Rose, Morag Kersel, Christopher Rollston, DePaul University, Steve Nash, Restitution, Rebecca Tsosie, Events, Richard Leventhal, Gary Johnson, World War II, Julie Getzels, Herrick Feinstein LLP, WilmerHale, Peter Neiman, University of Pennsylvania, Art Institute of Chicago, New Orleans Museum of Art, Andrews Kurth LLP, Toyozo Nakarai Emmanuel Christian Seminary, and Cultural Heritage Law, Arizona State University, Sotheby's, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Chicago Historical Society, Victoria Reed, Patty Gerstenblith
ARCA Recaps Fifth Annual Art Crime Conference
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 27, 2013 at 5:23 AM
The blog of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, has been running a series of recaps of the June conference in Amelia, Italy at which I was a presenter this past year. The summary of my panel is here (which also included Jerker Rydén and Joris Kila), moderated by Judge Arthur Tompkins, a District Court Judge in New Zealand), and the site contains similar recaps of the other panels. They are worth a detailed read, recalling a fascinating weekend in a stunning locale. Anyone interested in the topics should review the posts and consider the conference and ARCA's summer program.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Joris Kila, Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, Fifth Annual Art Crime Conference, Judge Arthur Tompkins, Events, Jerker Rydén, ARCA
Speakers List for ARCA Art & Heritage Conference Released
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on May 29, 2013 at 10:46 AM
ARCA (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 see you there!
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Carrie Johnson, South Texas College of Law, cultural property, Utrecht University, Stefano Alessandrini, Alesia Koush, Joris Kila, James Moore, Toby Bull, Verity Algar, University of Guelph, Joshua Nelson, Ruth Godthelp, Cynthia Roholt, Saskia Hufnagel, James Bond, Caravaggio, Restitution, University of Reading, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Events, World War II, Foundation Romualdo Del Bianco, Royal Armouries at the Royal Armouries Museum in L, Judith Harris, Felicity Strong, Amelia, University of Melbourne, University of Amsterdam, Theodosia Latsi, Jerker Rydén, ARCA, University of Cologna, Giulia Mezzi, Nicholas M. O'Donnell, University College London, Royal Library of Sweden, Chris Dobson, Derek Fincham, Art & Heritage Conference, ARTnews
Presentation to the 5th Annual ARCA Art Crime Conference June 21-23, 2013
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on May 3, 2013 at 7:56 AM
I 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 well (notably the Hungary case).
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Vernon Rapley, Charlie Hill, Art Crime Conference, Howard Spiegler, Maastricht, Carabinieri TPC collectively, Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, John Merryman, Neil Brodie, Jason Felch, Larry Rothfield, Dick Drent, Karl von Habsburg, Restitution, World War II, Lord Colin Renfrew, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Paolo Giorgio Ferri, Stuttgart Detective Ernst Schöller, Francesco Rutelli, Amelia, Ralph Frammolino, ARCA, Italy, Norman Palmer, Dr. Joris Kila, Dr. George H. O. Abungu
Art and Heritage Disputes at the University of Maastricht
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 15, 2013 at 8:21 AM
On March 24-25, 2013, I will be attending the Art and Heritage Disputes at the University of Maastricht. The seminar website is here:
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Anne Laure Bandle, David Carey Miller, Jos Van Beurden, Michail Risvas, Bruno S. Frey, Sebastian A. Green Martinez, Anne-Marie Carstens, Jan Hladik, Christa Roodt, Asoid Garcia-Marquez, Alessandro Chechi, Restitution, Craig Forrest, Athina Papaefstratiou Fouchard, Eleni Polymenopoulou, Yannick Radi, Christian Armbruester, S. I. Strong, University of Maastricht, Andrzej Jakubowski, Art and Heritage Disputes, Sabrina Urbinati
MFA and Harvard To Keep Iranian Antiquities, FSIA/Seizure Questions for Museums Left Unanswered
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on March 15, 2013 at 8:00 AM
The 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 in a museum are “property” of a source country that could be used to satisfy an unrelated judgment, or whether a museum displaying an object from a foreign country makes the object “used in commercial activity” such that it is no longer immune from seizure under the FSIA.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, 28 U.S.C. § 1610, 22 U.S.C. § 2259, Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 116 Stat. 2322, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, § 201 (a), Harvard University, Restitution, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Antiquities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Museums, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Pub. L. No. 107-297
Russia Swiftly Lashes Out At Sanctions Concerning Schneerson/Chabad Library, U.S. Government Still Silent
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on January 17, 2013 at 8:53 AM
Despite 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 fining the defendants $50,000 per day until they comply with the 2010 judgment. The Washington Post reports today that the U.S. government has declined to comment.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Menachem Schneerson, Russian Foreign Ministry, sanctions, Restitution, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Chabad
Russia Sanctioned $50,000 per day for Defiance of Chabad Library Judgment that Led to Art and Cultural Loan Embargo
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on January 16, 2013 at 10:45 AM
In 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 State Library, and the Russian State Military Archive will be fined collectively $50,000 per day until they comply with a 2010 judgment to return the library of Menachem Schneerson, the late charismatic leader of the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement, to the movement in Brooklyn, New York. Whereas the court lacked any power to compel the seizure of the library itself overseas, the plaintiffs will now be armed with a very real financial bludgeon against the defendants that have thumbed their noses at the U.S. courts for more than three years. In any case where the defendant refuses to obey a court order that court has a wide array of tools to compel compliance, but this case has been an awkward example of the limits on a court of law faced with an uncooperative party overseas. Particularly where the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1603 (the FSIA) was the basis for jurisdiction, as it is in so many wartime art restitution cases, and the fact that the 2010 judgment led to a still-ongoing embargo of art and cultural artifact loans to the United States, the decision is a significant one for the realm of art law.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Lativa, Menachem Schneerson, Germany, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Rebbe, 28 U.S.C. § 1603, Bolshevik, the Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communica, Russian Federation, the Russian State Library, FSIA, Restitution, the Russian State Military Archive, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Agudas Chasei Chabad, Poland, Russian Revolution, Soviet Union, Immunity from Seizure Act
Restitution and Repatriation at DePaul University on Monday, October 29, 2012
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 26, 2012 at 5:46 AM
Looking forward to Monday's conference in Chicago at DePaul University College of Law, Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law, entitled "Restitution and Repatriation: the Return of Cultural Objects." Lynn Nicholas, author of The Rape of Europa is the keynote speaker. If you like what you see at the Art Law Report-or even if you don't-I hope you will introduce yourself. I expect good attendance from some heavy hitters in the field.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, Lynn Nicholas, DePaul University, Restitution, Restitution and Repatriation
Second Circuit Rules Schiele Drawing Not Stolen by Nazis
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 24, 2012 at 1:15 PM
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the judgment against David Bakalar concerning ownership of the drawing Seated Woman with Bent Left Leg (Torso). It is a notable decision first and foremost because it affirms the District Court ruling on the merits of whether the drawing was stolen by the Nazis from the Austrian-Jewish collector Fritz Grünbaum—finding that it was not stolen. Such a ruling is a rarity among wartime restitution cases, the overwhelming majority of which continue to founder on statutes of limitations and jurisdictional defenses. Ironically, even though the court ruled that the work was not stolen and that the current owner could not prove good title, the current owner still prevailed. The details are the key to understanding this case, best described in the District Court decision that the Appeals Court affirmed.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: cultural property, laches, Second Circuit, Galerie St. Etienne, Seated Woman wiht Bent Left Leg (Torso), Galerie Gutekunst, Nazis, Fritz Grünbaum, Restitution, Egon Schiele, World War II, Mathilde Lukacs, David Bakalar, Franz Kieslinger
