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Sullivan Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief with former State Department Legal Adviser in Nazi-looted Art Case

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on November 22, 2021 at 5:43 PM

Today I am pleased to announce that I have filed a brief in the Supreme Court of the United States as counsel of record for amicus curiae Mark B. Feldman, former U.S. Department of State Acting Legal Adviser. We filed the brief in the case of Cassirer et al. v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation (“TBC”). Cassirer is the long-running dispute over title to Rue St. Honoré, après-midi, effet de pluie (Rue St. Honoré, Afternoon, Rain Effect) by Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. The painting once belonged to Lilly Cassirer, a Jewish woman in Berlin in 1939, from whom Nazi agents “bought” the painting. The case before the Supreme Court is not about whether the painting was stolen—it is undisputed that it was. Rather, the Supreme Court will review the Ninth Circuit’s decision that Spanish law, not California law, should govern the ownership rights.

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Topics: Guelph Treasure, Lilly Cassirer, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Supreme Court, SPK, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Hermann Goering, FSIA, expropriation exception”, sovereign immunity, UNESCO, Rue St. Honoré, Camille Pissarro, Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen- Bornemisza, Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Welfenschatz, Jakob Scheidwimmer, Philipp v. F.R.G., Mark B. Feldman

Von Saher claim against Norton Simon Museum dismissed as preempted under foreign affairs doctrine.

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on April 5, 2012 at 12:09 PM

Raising 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 of her claims, the law of foreign affairs makes the dispute inappropriate for resolution by civil litigation.

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Topics: Terezin Declaration, Culture, Norton Simon Museum, Hungary, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Jacques Goudstikker, Cassirer, Hungarian National Gallery, George Stroganoff-Scherbatoff, Holocaust Victims Redress Act, Restitution, Marei Von Saher, and Science, effet de pluie, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Rue St. Honoré, Camille Pissarro, Dutch Secretary for Education, Göring, Soviet Union, Washington Principles, American Ins. Ass’n v. Garamendi, Dunbar v. Seger-Thomschitz, Adam and Eve, California Code of Civil Procedure 354.3

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About the Blog


The Art Law Report provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities. It is authored by Nicholas M. O'Donnell, partner in our Art & Museum Law Practice.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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