A new lawsuit seeking to seize a painting by Van Gogh currently at the Detroit Institute of Arts for the show “Van Gogh in America,” a painting which the plaintiff alleges was unlawfully taken has brought back into focus the law in the United States that address immunity from seizure. That is to say, what are the circumstances under which a work of art loaned on exhibition—even if stolen property—might nonetheless have to be returned to the lender? The results, and the criteria, are often surprising to the casual viewer but are important to review for museums, collectors, and anyone involved in art loans.
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Topics:
Malevich,
Schiele,
22 U.S.C. § 2459,
Pinacoteca di Brera,
Museum of Modern Art,
Van Gogh,
IFSA,
Leopold Collection,
Portrait of Wally,
Immunity from Seizure Act,
State Department,
Detroit Institute of Art,
Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC,
The Reading Lady,
Liseuse De Romans,
George Caram Steeh,
Gustavo Soter,
The Novel Reader,
replevin
Der Standard in Austria reported this week that a recommendation is expected on Friday in the claim by the heirs of Erich Lederer to the famous Klimt Beethoven Frieze in the Secession Museum in Vienna. The issue in this case is not a Nazi-era theft per se, but the effect of Austria’s post-war restitution law, which returned ownership to the Lederer family (it was looted from Erich Lederer under the Nazi) but forbade export, leading to a sale. The Lederer family has argued that that amounts to a second taking. As I made no secret last week with regard to Germany’s intended National Cultural Property Designation for the Welfenschatz that my clients have sued to recover, this kind of export prohibition is now recognized for what it is: an effort to hinder restitution. The same kind of claim was made against the Leopold Museum in Vienna for Portrait of Wally, namely, the allegation that the post-war sale was not valid under the circumstances because of the export prohibition. That case settled in 2010, the painting remains in Vienna.
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Topics:
BGBl. I Nr. 181/1998 i.d.F. BGBl. I Nr. 117/2009,
Erich Lederer,
London,
sales under duress,
Nazi-looted art,
Beethoven Frieze,
Jugendstil,
Restitution,
Austrian Cultural Ministry,
World War II,
Leopold Collection,
Switzerland,
Secession Building,
Der Beirat gemäß § 3 des Bundesgesetzes über die R,
Portrait of Wally,
Austria,
14th Secession Exhibition,
Wiener Secessionsgebäude,
Zürich,
Gustav Klimt,
(Kunstrückgabegesetz),
Vienna,
Anschluss,
Dr. Rudolf Leopold,
Leopold Museum,
Limbach Commission,
New York,
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
There was a curious non-development today in Austria concerning the dispute over Gustav Klimt’s famed “Beethoven Frieze” located in the Secession Building in Vienna. At issue is whether a post-war sale by Jewish survivors to Austria of a famous painting that the law of the time did not allow to be exported can be considered a sale under duress and justify restitution.
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Topics:
Erich Lederer,
London,
sales under duress,
Nazi-looted art,
Beethoven Frieze,
Germany’s Limbach Commission,
Jugendstil,
Restitution,
Austrian Cultural Ministry,
World War II,
Leopold Collection,
Switzerland,
Gesamtkunstwerk,
Secession Building,
Der Beirat gemäß § 3 des Bundesgesetzes über die R,
Portrait of Wally,
Austria,
14th Secession Exhibition,
Museums,
Wiener Secessionsgebäude,
Zürich,
Gustav Klimt,
(Kunstrückgabegesetz),
Vienna,
Anschluss,
Dr. Rudolf Leopold,
New York,
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
