I filed yesterday a new civil action against the Federal Republic of Germany and the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (the SPK, which is responsible the administration of the Berlin museums, among other things) in the United States District Court in Washington, DC. You can read the Complaint here. The lawsuit seeks the immediate restitution to my clients of the collection held by the SPK known as the Welfenschatz, or as it is referred to in English, the Guelph Treasure. My clients Gerald Stiebel and Alan Phillip are the blood relatives and successors to the consortium of Jewish art dealers who were threatened and forced by the National Socialist government into selling the Welfenschatz in 1935.
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Topics: Maria Altmann, National Socialists, Third Reich, Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany et al. 15-c, United States Supreme Court, Gestapo, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Markus Stoetzel, Mel Urbach, Nazis, Advisory Commission, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Washington DC, Hermann Goering, Restitution, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Gerald Stiebel, World War II, flight tax, Adolf Hitler, United States District Court, Federal Republic of Germany, Alan Phillip, Welfenschatz
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Topics: Maria Altmann, National Socialists, Third Reich, Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany et al. 15-c, United States Supreme Court, Gestapo, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Markus Stoetzel, Mel Urbach, Nazis, Advisory Commission, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Washington DC, Hermann Goering, Restitution, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Gerald Stiebel, World War II, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, flight tax, Adolf Hitler, United States District Court, Federal Republic of Germany, Alan Phillip, Welfenschatz
Last year’s biggest art law story was, in our view the Detroit bankruptcy. Nathan Bomey, who along with Mark Stryker formed the essential reporter team on up-to-the-minute updates on the proceedings, interviewed Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes in the Detroit Free Press. The interview speaks for itself, but the highlights to me were:
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Topics: Judge Rosen, Mark Stryker, Chapter 9, Syncora Capital, Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., Judge Rhodes, Christie's, valuation, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Nathan Bomey, Detroit Free Press, Museums, Detroit Bankruptcy, grand bargain
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
The Super Bowl is America’s biggest civic holiday, in many ways. The country’s most popular sport combines with the country’s desire just to sit and watch television in a once-a-year event. This year did not disappoint, in one of the most exciting contests in the game’s history, the New England Patriots prevailed over the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, sealed by a game-winning drive by Tom Brady and a last-minute interception by Malcom Butler.
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Topics: Left Shark, Seattle Seahawks, Glendale, California Gurls Richard Prince, Hooray for Everything, Halftime Show, Malcom Butler, Katy Perry, Arizona, Jay Darby, New England Patriots, NYU Law School, Super Bowl, Rorschach Test, Copyright, Garcia v. Google et al., Ninth Circuit, Tumblr, Chris Sprigman, Tom Brady, Fair Use, Rastafarians Patrick Cariou, Art Law Report
The Appellate Division, First Department, has affirmed the 2013 dismissal of claims in a lawsuit challenging the admissions policy of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
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Topics: Litigation, Museums
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
The Art Law Foundation in Geneva (Fondation pour le droit de l’art), together with the Banking Law Centre at the University of Geneva, hosted a sterling event on Monday in Geneva. This was the second part in a series spearheaded by the Foundation, the first day was held in London in November. While I was not able to attend the London event, it was very well received, and together with this week’s event it must be said that the organization is up to great things. Their events page (here) is something anyone interested should book mark. In particular, these events have showcased sophisticated insights into market-based aspects of art and law, which whether we like it or not is what is driving the discussion (and will continue to). A real hats off to the organizers, in particular Attorneys Sandrine Giroud of Lalive, and Pierre Gabus of Gabus Avocats, a director and president, respectively, of the Foundation.
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Topics: China, Pierre Gabus, Art Finance, Sotheby’s Financial Services, Fremdverwaltung, leverage, Xavier Oberson, Alexandre Quiquerez, Philip Hoffman, Frédéric Dawance, Art Business and Research Unit at Sotheby’s Instit, authenticity, Art Law Foundation, Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act, The Art Newspaper, Geneva, artgenève, Fine Arts Expert Institute, Manuela de Kerchove, Sandrine Giroud, Lalive, Supervised Qualified Investors, Natural Le Coultre, Yan Walther, feeder funds, Jan Prasens, Abel Avocats, Farrer & Co LLP, Lombard Odier, Events, Tutela Capital, James Carleton, Sotheby's, U.C.C., Yves Bouvier, Schroders, Fabian Bocart, Fine Art Fund Group, Art Finance And Law Conference Series
