Resources

Below is a list of web, printed resources and provenance research dealing with the topic of art restitution to Holocaust victims and their heirs.

PAPERS AND ARTICLES OF INTEREST | WEB RESOURCES | PROVENANCE RESEARCH

PAPERS AND ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Abandoned Bill Signed into Law: Written by Frank Lord and Yael Weitz (Art & Advocacy (a Herrick Feinstein Newsletter), Winter 2009)
Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War, Report 2011
An Amicable End to a Nazi-era Spoliation Claim, Illicit Cultural Property, April 11, 2011
Archive Dispute Derails Art Loans From Russia New York Times, February 2, 2011
Art & Advocacy The Art Newsletter of Herrick, Feinstein LLP
- Spring/Summer 2011, Vol. 09
- Fall 2011, Vol. 10
- Winter 2010, Vol. 5: Holocaust Art Restitution Litigation in 2009
Article: Austria Urges Return of Altar Panels to Jewish Heir
Art in the Crossfire: A Jewish Sect’s Claims Have Led to a U.S.-Russia Embargo by Laura Gilbert, New York Observer, August 16, 2011
Art Restitution in Hungary:A Comparative Case Study of the Sarospatak Books and the Herzog Collection, by Jennifer Mohr Otterson (Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs), June 3, 2011
CANADA
- Canadian government funds research on Holocaust-era art, The Art Newspaper, April 29, 2013
  Canada has begun its term as the leader of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance — a coalition of 31 countries — by launching a $190,000 initiative to research the provenance of Holocaust-era artworks at six of its major museums, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the latter of which just returned a painting by the 17th-century Dutch artist Gerrit van Honthorst to the heir of Hamburgian Jewish collector Bruno Spiro last week. "With the support of the Government of Canada, directors of Canadian art museums and galleries will develop their professional expertise and contribute to the international call for transparency, justice and closure, in one of the most sordid chapters of 20th-century history," said Canadian Art Museum Directors Association president Josephine Mills.
- Canada under pressure over potential Nazi loot - April 2013
  In the current issue of The Art Newspaper, David D’Arcy reviews the efforts of the Max Stern Estate to search Europe and the U.S. for paintings that belonged to the German-born Jewish art dealer, who fled Germany in 1937 after the Nazis shut down his Dusseldorf gallery and forced him to see his stock. Now, as Canada leads a committee commemorating Nazi victims, collections in the country could face new scrutiny over potential Nazi-era loot. Many believe that Canada is lagging behind America when it comes to Holocaust restitution. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts currently has The Deification of Aeneas, 1642, by Charles Le Brun, which once belonged to the Dutch dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Says Larry Kaye, “We contacted the museum almost a decade ago and have been seeking the return of the painting ever since.”
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Cézanne Portrait seized by Russian Bolsheviks belongs to the Met
Claim by Museums of Public Trusteeship and their Response to Restitution Claims: A Self-Serving Attempt to Keep Holocaust-Looted Art, By Charles A. Goldstein and Yael Weitz
Charting a New Course, by William D. Cohan September 06, 2012, www.artnews.com
Court Hearing Coming Over a Baroque Painting Looted by Nazis, Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2011
Dealing with Jewish Cultural Property in Post-War Poland by Nawojka Cieslinska-Lobkowicz, June 2009
Publication: Cultural Heritage & Arts Review, Vol I, Issue 2, The American Society of International Law ("ASIL")
The Ethicist: Tragic Artifacts by Randy Cohen, New York Times, January 14, 2011.
Family’s Claim Against MoMA Hinges on Dates, By Patricia Cohen, The New York Times, August 23, 2011
Federal Agents Seize Painting Plundered By Nazis from Public Display in Tallahassee, Sunshine State News, November 5, 2011
Goudstikker Exhibition at the Jewish Museum: Article written by Frank Lord, Art & Advocacy (a Herrick Feinstein Newsletter, Vol. I, Winter 2009)
The Associated Press, Happy Ending for looted Courbet painting in Paris exhibit (Oct 12, 2007)
Herrick
- Claim by Museums of Public Trusteeship and their Response to Restitution Claims: A Self-Serving Attempt to Keep Holocaust-Looted Art, Art Antiquity and Law Journal 2011, by: Charles A. Goldstein, Yael M. Weitz
- New Weapons and New Targets: Criminal Sanctions and Redress Against Museum Workers under US Law Taking it Personally, The Individual Liability of Museum Personnel 2011, by Yael M. Weitz
- Outline of Legal Principles Governing Holocaust-Looted Art Cases(Including a List of Leading Cases and Other Resources for Reference), Howard N. Spiegler, September 2011
- Panel Discussion on Nazi Era Art Restitution, October 28, 2012, Tel Aviv, Israel
- The Particular Position of the Museum Director, Curator and Registrar in Holocaust-Related Claims Taking it Personally, The Individual Liability of Museum Personnel, 2011, by Charles A. Goldstein, Yael M. Weitz
Institute of Art and Law
- Too Little, Too Late. Dunbar v. Seger-Thomschitz and the Ongoing Challenge Posed by Prescriptive Periods in Holocaust-Era Art and Cultural Property Restitution Matters, by Jhiela C. Mirdamadi, May 2012
International Comity‘s Threat to the Restitution of Stolen Holocaust Art: The Cautionary Tale of the Herzog Litigation by Hanna Lundqvist
Konstantin Akinsha, “The Mysterious Journey of an Erotic Masterpiece,” ARTnews (Feb 2008)
Lucian Simmons, Christie’s, USHMM Speech – September 2011
The Mauerbach Scandal: An exhibition in Vienna brings to light new evidence of Austria’s reluctance to return art looted by the Nazis, Written by: Konstantin Akinsha (ARTnews Magazine, February 2009)
MOMA’s Problematic Provenances, William D. Cohan, ARTnews, November 17, 2011. Behind a lawsuit brought against the Museum of Modern Art by the heirs of George Grosz lies a troubling history of acquiring works seized by the Nazis and sold to support the German war effort
Museums Aim to Probe Nazi Art Seizures, The Local, January 26, 2011
Nazi Looted Art Commissions After the 1998 Washington Conference: Comparing the European and American Experiences
Nazi Era Art Claims – A comparison: Art commissions versus Litigation
Nazi-looted art and the market by: Daniella Luxembourg (Art Newspaper, December 2008)
Nazi-Looted Art Restitution, Jacksonville museum pieces actually Nazi loot; owner to get them back - September 25, 2012
Paper: The Particular Position of the Museum Director, Curator and Registrar in Holocaust-Related Claims, by Charles A. Goldstein and Yael Weitz, September 2010
Press Statement: Holocaust-Era Looted Art, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, January 16, 2013
Reclaiming Lost Treasures, by Konstantin Akinsha, Art News, June 2012
Recovering Looted Jewish Cultural Property, Constance Lowenthal. The Permanent Court of Arbitration/Peace Palace Papers 2004
Report of the Association of Art Museum Directors Task Force on the Spoliation of Art during the Nazi/World War II Era
Report to the Public on the Work of the CIVS 2011
Katherine N. Skinner has a student note titled Restituting Nazi-Looted Art: Domestic, Legislative, and Binding Intervention to Balance the Interests of Victims and Museums, 15 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. 673.
Abstract:
The Nazis engaged in widespread art looting from Holocaust victims, either taking the artwork outright or using legal formalities to effect a transfer of title under duress. Years later, US museums acquired some of these pieces on a good-faith basis. Now, however, they face lawsuits by the heirs of Holocaust victims, who seek to have the museums return the artwork. Though good title cannot pass to the owner of stolen property under US law, unfavorable statutes of limitations, high financial hurdles, or discovery problems, among other obstacles, bar many of these claimants from seeking recovery. Though some museums have amicably settled with claimants, museums’ otherwise resistant responses are not surprising, considering the “cultural internationalist” attitude they adopt toward restitution in general. US federal action to resolve the issue of Nazi-art restitution has been aspirational rather than practical, and courts are not ideally suited to handle the difficult policy implications present on a one-off basis. Additionally, museums have not been faithful to their self-imposed ethical guidelines, which promote full out-of-court cooperation with claimants seeking restitution for Nazi-looted art. Therefore, this Note proposes that Congress step in to create a binding, uniform, domestic body to hear and resolve Nazi-art restitution claims brought against museums. Such a forum would eliminate many of the initial obstacles claimants face, and with its narrowly tailored application it would prevent museums from becoming more vulnerable to restitution claims in other contexts. Finally, with a sunset provision followed by a presumption against restitution, such legislation would provide museums a respite from facing these claims eternally.
Restitution Experience Since The Washington Conference (1998), AN OVERVIEW, By Charles A. Goldstein, Esq.
Rome Plans to open Italy's first-ever Holocaust Museum Within Ten Years, World Jewish Congress, February 23, 2011
Russian Federal Law on Cultural Valuables Displaced to the USSR as a Result of the Second World War and Located on the Territory of the Russian Federation
Russia, the U.S. and Art as a Diplomatic Weapon, New York Times, February 13, 2011 - Letter to the Editor from Charles A. Goldstein
Swiss Want Clearer Picture of Looted Nazi Art, SwissInfo.ch, January 20, 2011
Taking it Personally: The Individual Liability of Museum Personnel (A Collection of Essays) by Professor Norman Palmer and Ruth Redmond Cooper, Published by Institute of Art an Law (London)
Translation of an article entitled "The Shame of the Mauerbach Auction" from Der Standard, dated November 30, 2008
Carol Vogel, RETURN OF LOOTED PORTRAIT, New York Times, January 13, 2011
Whose Art Is It Anyway?: Written by Mari-Claudia Jimenez (Art & Advocacy (a Herrick Feinstein Newsletter), Winter 2009)

WEB RESOURCES

PROVENANCE RESEARCH