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Gurlitt Task Force Makes First Determination that Matisse "Seated Woman" Was Stolen From Rosenbergs; Questions Remain About What Happens Next

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on June 12, 2014 at 1:11 AM

The Gurlitt Task Force has issued its first public conclusion about the status of work amongst the collection found in Cornelius Gurlitt's apartment. Chair Ingebeborg Berggreen-Merkel issued a statement today that (my translation):

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Topics: Schwabinger Kunstfund, Hildebrand Gurlitt, Cornelius Gurlitt, Gurlitt Task Force, Nazi-looted art, Gurlitt Collection, Entartete Kunst, Munich art trove, Anne Sinclair, NS Raubkunst, Restitution, World War II, Kunstmuseum Bern, Washington Principles, Sitzende Frau, Kunstfund München, Henri Matisse, Paul Rosenberg

Cornelius Gurlitt Attorney References “Only Eight Works” in Relation to Nazi Persecution, Likely More of an Update than Assertion of Ownership

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on May 23, 2014 at 5:15 AM

The attorney for the recently deceased Cornelius Gurlitt, Stephan Edel, told Der Spiegel today that “At the present time, only eight works must be returned from the collection as a result of Nazi persecution,” (my translation). Edel went on to say “Whether further works will follow, must await the results of the ongoing research.”

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Topics: Schwabinger Kunstfund, Hildebrand Gurlitt, Cornelius Gurlitt, www.Gurlitt.Info, Wolfgang Seybold, German museums, Nazi-looted art, Gurlitt Collection, Entartete Kunst, will contest, Curt Valentin, Restitution, Der Spiegel, World War II, Bunte, degenerate art, Kunstmuseum Bern, Nazi Raubkunst, Kunstfund München

Cassirer Heirs' Claims to Pissarro Work Revived by Appeals Court, the Year 2013 Shows that the Tide for Restitution May be Shifting Again

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on December 16, 2013 at 12:36 PM

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit restored last week claims by heirs of Lilly Cassirer against the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection for the return of the Camille Pissarro painting Rue St. Honoré, après-midi, êffet de pluie.

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Topics: Nuremberg laws, Schwabinger Kunstfund, Cornelius Gurlitt, Lilly Cassirer, California Code of Civil Procedure § 338(c), Dorothy Nelson, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Julius Schoeps, Rue St. Honoré après-midi êffet de pluie, Claude Cassirer, Von Saher v. Norton Simon, de Csepel, Jacques Goudstikker, California Code of Civil Procedure § 354.3, Gurlitt Collection, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Hans Sachs, Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasaden, Madame Soler, Bundesgerichtshof, Hildebrand Gurlit, Entartete Kunst, Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Hungarian National Gallery, Nazis, Munich, Deutches Historisches Museum, FSIA, Preemption, Gurlitt, Harry Pregerson, Restitution, field preemption, Marei Von Saher, Herzog collection, Bavaria, Claudia Seger-Thomschitz, Looted Art, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Pinakothek der Moderne, degenerate art, Altmann v. Republic of Austria, 578 F.3d 1016, Freistaat Bayern, beschlagnahmte Kunst, Camille Pissarro, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Nürnberger Gesetze, Raubkunst, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, verschollene Kunst, Kunstfund München

327 Gurlitt Collection Works Now Known; Time for Claims in the United States?

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on December 6, 2013 at 4:36 AM

The coordination office in Magdeburg continues to post details about works of art seized from Cornelius Gurlitt in Schwabing, with a total of 327 works now available for viewing. There has been almost no discussion yet, however, of what process the government will employ to allow claimants to make their case. Those in the United States have options discussed further below.

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Topics: veschollene Kunst, Schwabinger Kunstfund Cornelius Gurlitt, Strafprozessordnung, Hildebrand Gurlitt, EBS Dispute Resolution Center, Munich Hoard, IFKUR, Verjährungsfrist, Peter Bert, Germany, Matthias Weller, prescriptive ownership, Nazi-looted art, Gurlitt Collection, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Baden-Württemberg, Entartete Kunst, Nazis, Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel, Munich, Schwabing, Magdeburg, FSIA, Dispute Resolution in Germany, Bavaria, Looted Art, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, deutches Recht, degenerate art, Altmann v. Republic of Austria, www.lostart.de, stop, Raubkunst, German Civil Code § 221, Sec. 108 German Code of Criminal Procedure, Kunstfund München, Münchner Kunstfund

First List of Art Found in Gurlitt Collection is Released, Website Overwhelmed as Claimants Consider Legal Options

Posted by Nicholas O'Donnell on November 12, 2013 at 3:33 AM

The German government has released an initial list of twenty five works among the collection seized from the Munich (Schwabing) apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the most significant discovery of possibly looted art since the end of World War II. The list is posted at www.lostart.de, a hitherto little-known website of the Coordination Point for Cultural Losses (Die Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste ) in Magdeburg, which administers claims for cultural losses against the German state. The website has been overwhelmed with traffic (I have yet to load the page successfully), sparking fresh criticism of the government’s handling of the issue, but giving credit where due, the Merkel government has moved swiftly to begin these disclosures. As we predicted, the national government simply could not allow this question to fester and be stonewalled; earlier this week foreign minister Guido Westerwelle noted the risk that delay posed to “trust that we have built over many decades” after World War II. The question now will be whether it continues in a comprehensive way until the full list is released.

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Topics: Thinking Woman, Playing Piano, Carl Spitzweg, The Master Exploder Hantsch, Hildebrand Gurlitt, Cornelius Gurlitt, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Honoré Daumier, Christoph Voll, Dompteuse, Hans Christoph, Girl at Table, Holocaust Art Restitution Project, Guido Westerwelle, Max Liebermann, Antonio Canaletto, Eugène Delacroix, Tram, Nazi-looted art, Gurlitt Collection, Allegory/Allegorical Scene, View of the Seine Valley, Moorish Conversation on a Terrace, Otto Dix, Erich Fraass, Die Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste, Wilhelm Lachnit, Entartete Kunst, Couple, Marc Chagall, Study of a Woman Nude Standing Arms Raised Hands C, Auguste Rodin, Seated Woman/Woman Sitting in Armchair, Child at Table, Magdeburg, Bonaventura Genelli, Patricia Cohen, Restitution, Fritz Maskos, Veiled Woman, Male Portrait, Female nude, Der Spiegel, World War II, degenerate art, Mother and Child, Couple in a Landscape, Ludwig Godenschweg, Théodore Rousseau, www.lostart.de, Otto Griebel, New York Times, Coordination Point for Cultural Losses, Bernhard Kretschmar, Riders on the Beach, Monk, S.A Giustina in Prà della Vale, Kunstfund München, Male Nude, Henri Matisse, Conrad Felixmüller, Woman in the Theater Box, Man and Woman in the Window

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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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