After the U.S. District Court denied the government’s Motion to Reconsider its earlier dismissal of the claim to the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer in the St. Louis Museum of Art, the government has tried another procedure to revive the case, one that is normally unremarkable. A review of the filings in the case raises the question, however, of whether that attempt is too late and the government’s only hopes now rest on an appeal. That is, the government may have promised the Court that it would file any request to file a new complaint of the sort it just did by no later than two weeks ago and missed its own self-imposed deadline.
Government Tries to Save "Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer" Case Against St. Louis Art Museum, but Did U.S. Miss Its Own Deadline?
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on June 14, 2012 at 10:10 AM
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Topics: Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, St. Louis Art Museum, Collections, Restitution, 19 U.S.C. § 1595a, United States v. Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, Customs, Civil Forfeiture
UPDATE: Court Denies Government's Request to Amend Case to Reclaim Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer from St. Louis Art Museum
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on June 1, 2012 at 8:37 AM
Fresh on the heels of our coverage here and here and in the Atlantic, the U.S. District Court in St. Louis has rejected the U.S. government's efforts to save its case to reclaim the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer.
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Topics: Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, St. Louis Art Museum, Collections, Customs, The Atlantic
The Ethical Questions Raised by the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer Case in this Month’s Atlantic
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on May 31, 2012 at 10:49 AM
Malcom Gay in the Atlantic reports on the dismissal of the federal government’s civil forfeiture action under U.S. customs laws United States v. The Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, and the broader quesions about what a museum should do when faced with such claims. In April, the U.S. District Court allowed the St. Louis Museum of Art's Motion to Dismiss and issued a stinging rebuke of the case for seizure of the Mask under customs laws.
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Topics: Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, St. Louis Art Museum, Collections, Malcom Gay, Customs, The Atlantic
Portrait of Wally in Hindsight: What did it Really Change?
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on April 25, 2012 at 1:53 PM
A new piece at the Art Newspaper reflects on the importance of the Portrait of Wally case. Wally was seized in 1998 by customs officials on the theory that it was stolen property when imported into the U.S. The painting sat in a warehouse for 12 years, until a settlement returned the painting to Vienna in 2010 and a payment to Lea Bondi's heirs was made. I recall well the citywide celebrations in the Austrian capital when the painting returned; banners on lampposts proclaimed Bildnis Wally kehrt zurück—Portrait of Wally returns!
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Topics: Maria Altmann, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, The Art Newspaper, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, FSIA, Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, IFSA, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Portrait of Wally, S.B. 2212, Immunity from Seizure Act, Customs, Gustav Klimt, Vienna
Commentary Takes Shape on S.B. 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on April 11, 2012 at 12:47 PM
It’s been a few weeks since the House passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (H.R. 4086) and sent it on to the Senate for consideration as S.B. 2212. It has bipartisan sponsorship there (Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch), but no word yet on when it will be put to a vote.
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Topics: Girolamo Romano, Dianne Feinstein, Nazi-looted art, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1603, 22 U.S.C. § 2459, Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue, Hermann Goring, Collections, FSIA, Restitution, 19 U.S.C. § 1595a, Schneerson library, Orrin Hatch, Senate Bill 2212, World War II, IFSA, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Portrait of Wally, Immunity from Seizure Act, Customs, Chabad, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity
St. Louis Art Museum Prevails Against U.S. Claim to Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on April 3, 2012 at 1:23 PM
The St. Louis Art Museum has defeated the federal goverment's efforts to seize the Egyptian Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer under U.S. customs laws.
The Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer is a funerary mask of an ancient Egyptian noblewoman. The St. Louis Art Museum purchased it from a dealer in 1998. Sometime later, the United States began to seek its seizure, arguing that it was stolen property. The museum sued the government in the first instance to seek a declaration that the attempts to seize the Mask should cease. The United States then brought a civil forfeiture action under U.S. customs laws (proceedings in which the object is the defendant, making the case United States v. The Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer; it is left to the person claiming ownership to file a claim in which she bears the burden of proof). In its papers, the government essentially argued that the fact that the Mask had gone missing in Egypt by 1973 and then surfaced in a sale in the United States decades later, meant that it could not have been imported legally.
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Topics: Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, St. Louis Art Museum, 19 U.S.C. 1595a, the Art Law Report, United States, Customs, Civil Forfeiture, Ancient Egypt
The Art Law Report at Ellis Boston Antiques
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on October 6, 2011 at 8:23 AM
During the upcoming Ellis Boston Antiques Show, I will be on a panel on Friday night, October 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. entitled “Essentials for the New Collector” about collecting antiques and fine art in today’s market. I will be joined by PBS “Antiques Roadshow” appraiser Colleene Fesko and John Fiske, Editor of New England Antiques Journal. The panel is presented by ARIS Title Insurance Corporation.
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Topics: Antiques Roadshow, Collections, Nicholas O'Donnell, Customs, connoisseurship, Art Law Report
