I am looking forward to participating next month in a symposium entitled :"Ethics and Cultural Patrimony: Viewpoints" at L'Ecole du Louvre in Paris on October 20-21, 2015. The event is organized by L’Institut Droit Ethique Patrimoine (Institute of Law, Ethics and Heritage), in partnership with l’Institut d’Etudes de droit public (Institute of Public Law Studies) and l’Ecole du Louvre, and take place at the Ecole du Louvre, Palais du Louvre, porte Jaujard, place du Carrousel, 75001 Paris. The conference website (with registration) can be found here, and the brochure can be opened here.
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Topics:
Bordeaux University Montaigne,
cultural property,
Lafferière-François Julien,
Denis Michel Boëll,
Ecole du Louvre,
National Consultative Ethics Committee,
Deaccession,
Schwabinger Kunstfund,
Marie Cornu,
James Bradburne,
Geraldine Goffaux Callebau,
Musée de la Marine,
Council of Voluntary Sales,
Tehran,
Astrid Müller-Katzenberg,
Baptiste Brown,
Conservation,
ICOM,
Marie Berducou,
Stéphane Duroy,
University of Toulouse Capitole,
National Heritage Institute,
Michel Van Praët,
University of Shahid Beheshti,
Paris,
Philippe Durey,
Arnaud Beaufort,
University of Poitiers,
University Western Bretagne,
Nathalie Heinich,
Milan,
Julien Chapuis,
Pinacoteca di Brera,
French National Commission for UNESCO,
Philippe-Henri Dutheil,
University Rennes,
Vincent Negri,
Durey Philippe,
Céline Castets- Fox,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
Sophie Vigneron,
Bittoun Jacques,
Sullivan & Worcester LLP,
Events,
University Institute of France,
University of Kent,
Museum for Byzantine Sculpture Collections and Art,
National Library of France,
Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of,
Noëlle Timbart,
Chadelat Catherine,
Dominique Jarrassé,
Claire Barbillon,
Janicot Daniel,
Gilles Ragot,
University of Montreal,
State Museums in Berlin,
Nicholas M. O'Donnell,
International Society For Law Research of Cultural,
Edouard Planche,
Emmanuelle Polack,
Fromageau Jérôme,
Université Paris Sud,
EY Société d’avocats,
Gautrais Vincent,
Janet Blake
After the restitution of the first two works of Nazi-looted art from the trove of works found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, David Toren has announced his intention to auction his work, Two Riders on the Beach by Max Liebermann. Toren, now more than 90 years old, remembers the theft of the painting from his uncle David Friedmann in Breslau (now Wrocław). Toren is the only claimant to date to have filed litigation over the Gurlitt case. Sotheby’s will auction the work on June 24. Toren explained his motivation for the sale as follows:
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Topics:
Petra Willner,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Breslau,
Wrocław,
Zwei Reiter am Strand,
Uta Werner,
Max Liebermann,
Gurlitt Collection,
Two Riders on the Beach,
Verena Osgyan,
Oberlandesgericht,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
David Toren,
World War II,
Mittelbayerische Zeitung,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Museums,
Berner Zeitung,
David Friedmann
After months of start/stop and hurry up and wait, the Munich court with jurisdiction over the Gurlitt collection has cleared two paintings for restitution to the heirs of their original owners. David Toren and the Rosenberg family will receive Two Riders on the Beach (Ritter am Strand) by Max Liebermann and Seated Woman by Henri Matisse, respectively. This will also result in the resolution of the only lawsuit to date filed over the Gurlitt case (pending in Washington, DC). Toren and the Rosenbergs are to be congratulated for their perseverance, as should their representatives (again, respectively) August Matteis and Christopher Marinello—particularly after some eleventh-hour victim-blaming.
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Topics:
Gurlitt Task Force,
Nazi-looted art,
Gurlitt Collection,
Two Riders on the Beach,
August Mattheis and Christopher Marinello,
Munich,
Rosenbergs,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
David Toren,
World War II,
W Wall Street Journal,
Ritter am Strand
A Munich court ruled last week that the will written by Cornelius Gurlitt in the last days of his life that named the Kunstmuseum Bern (an institution with which he had no relationship whatsoever) was valid, rejecting a challenge by Gurlitt’s cousin Uta Werner. It is emblematic of the strange case of Gurlitt and of German’s bizarre handling of the affair, that this decision resolves very few of the pending issues.
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Topics:
Conny Leaks,
Focus,
Carl Spitzweg,
Hildebrand Gurlitt,
Potemkin Village,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Breslau,
Henri Hinrichsen,
German Minister of Culture,
Uta Werner,
Gurlitt Task Force,
Max Liebermann,
Germany,
Nazi-looted art,
Gurlitt Collection,
Seated Woman,
Two Riders on the Beach,
Entartete Kunst,
Salzburg,
Gurlitt,
NS Raubkunst,
Seuddeutsche Zeitung,
Restitution,
Catrin Lorch,
Bavaria,
David Toren,
World War II,
degenerate art,
beschlagnahmte Kunst,
Austria,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Monika Grütters,
Martha Hinrichsen,
David Friedmann,
Henri Matisse,
Jörg Häntzschel,
Paul Rosenberg
In a story that never fails to provide new twists and turns, the Kunstmseum Bern, apparently with the collaboration of the German government, is now contesting the idea that the only thing holding up restitution of the works identified as Nazi-looted by the Gurlitt Task Force is the will contest by Cornelius Gurlitt's cousin Uta Werner. Instead, they are now blaming the claimants themselves for the delay in restituting Seated Woman by Henri Matisse, The Cardplayers, by Carl Spitzweg, and Two Riders on the Beach, by Max Liebermann, to the Rosenberg, Henrichnsen, and Friedmann/Toren families, respectively.
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Topics:
The Cardplayers,
Carl Spitzweg,
Friedmann,
Toren,
Henrichnsen,
Uta Werner,
Max Liebermann,
Gurlitt Collection,
Seated Woman,
Two Riders on the Beach,
Matisse,
Rosenberg,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
World War II,
German Center for Lost Cultural Property,
Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste,
Henri Matisse
Ongoing events have weakened irrevocably the triumphalist message that Germany had hoped to send with its November agreement concerning the Gurlitt bequest to the Kunstmuseum Bern, and the January opening of the Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste (the German Center for Lost Cultural Property). Instead, the self-congratulatory air that surrounded those events is starting to look like a premature "Mission Accomplished" moment.
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Topics:
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Holocaust Art Restitution Project,
Uta Werner,
Adolph von Menzel,
Nazi-looted art,
Gurlitt Collection,
Seated Woman,
Sachsenhausen,
Matisse,
Saturday Night Live,
George Eduard Behrens,
Advisory Commission,
Hamburg,
L. Behrens & Söhne,
Gurlitt,
German Cultural Minister,
Der Spiegel,
Hjalmar Schacht,
German Center for Lost Cultural Property,
Minister of Economics,
Marc Masurovsky,
Washington Principles,
Kristallnacht,
Monika Grütters,
Great Depression,
Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste,
Pariser Wochentag,
Paris Weekday,
Welfenschatz,
Limbach Commission,
Heidelberg
We recently discussed how the will contest concerning the will in which Cornelius Gurlitt left his estate to the Kunstmuseum Bern was complicating efforts to restitute any Nazi-looted works within the collection. Since the will contest, in and it itself, certainly seemed plausible, the resulting effect it could have on returning questionable works was not hard to see.
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Topics:
Uta Werner,
Max Liebermann,
Gurlitt Collection,
Seated Woman,
Two Riders on the Beach,
Matisse,
Carl Spitweg,
Gurlitt,
Breslau David Toren,
Art Recovery International,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Henri Henrichsen,
Christopher Marinello,
David Friedmann,
ArtNet,
Paul Rosenberg
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) reported yesterday that the challenge by Uta Werner to her cousin Cornelius Gurlitt’s will may extend late into this year. Werner has petitioned the court in Munich to set aside the last will and testament that named the Kunstmuseum in Bern as Gurlitt’s sole heir and beneficiary of the 1,280 works of art found in his apartment in 2012, as well as those in Salzburg. In November, the Kunstmuseum, the Bavarian government, and the German government announced to great fanfare but little analysis that the museum would accept the bequest and work with the Gurlitt Task Force to sort through objects with questionable provenance related to Hildebrand Gurlitt’s role as an approved dealer of “degenerate art” under the Nazis, and the concern that some of the objects may be Nazi-looted art.
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Topics:
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Breslau,
Henri Hinrichsen,
Stefan Koldehoff,
Die Bilder Sind Unter Uns Das Geschäft mit der NS-,
Zwei Reiter am Strand,
Max Liebermann,
Germany,
Fall Gurlitt,
Nazi-looted art,
Gurlitt Collection,
SRF,
Hildebrand Gurltt,
will contest,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
David Toren,
World War II,
Task Force,
Die Zeit,
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Martha Hinrichsen,
Raubkunst,
The Pictures Are Under Us Business in Nazi-Looted,
last will and testament
I was pleasantly surprised to learn today that Above the Law had published an article entitled “The 12 Awesome Law Blogs of 2014,” and right there at Number 1 was none other than the Art Law Report. As Colin O’Keefe and Cara McDonald wrote:
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Topics:
the Auto Industry Blog,
Retail Law Advisor,
Trademarkology,
Bob Law’s Law Blog,
Stites & Harbison,
Nazi-looted art in Munich,
Walker O’Neill,
ownership intellectual property,
authentication,
the Goulston & Storrs Retail Group,
Above the Law,
Gray Reed & McGraw P.C.,
Gurlitt Collection,
BeLabor the Point,
Covington & Burling LLP,
R-T Specialty LLC,
Charles Sartain,
art,
Canna Law Blog,
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Stit,
the Art Law Report,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
Canna Law,
David Smyth,
Kevin LaCroix,
Colin O'Keefe,
Goulston & Storrs,
Cady Bar the Door,
First Amendment,
Hilary Bricken,
The D&O Diary,
Jim Walker,
Cruise Law News,
Harris Moure,
Foley & Lardner,
12 Awesome Law Blogs of 2014,
Brooks Pierce,
Inside Privacy,
Cara McDonald,
Energy and the Law
With the benefit of (a little) time after the initial announcement that the Kunstmuseum Bern had agreed to accept the inheritance of Cornelius Gurlitt, more information has become available about the agreement with Germany and Bavaria that paved the way for the museum’s decision.
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Topics:
Hildebrand Gurlitt,
Cornelius Gurlitt,
Gurlitt Task Force,
YouTube,
Gurlitt Collection,
Christoph Schäublin,
Salzburg,
Gurlitt,
Restitution,
Bavaria,
World War II,
Erklärung der Bundesregierung der Länder und der k,
Kunstmuseum Bern,
Washington Principles,
Museums,
Monika Grütters,
Washingtoner Einkommen
