Jan Brueghel the Elder Max Liebermann Jean Baptiste van Loo Franz Xaver Winterhalter Johnny Van Haeften Bullish Bidders Artful Dodgers Unicef to Sell Works Bequeathed by German Doctor

Send a letter to the Editor

Save to Del.icio.us Digg this

U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lisi in Providence accepted the Stern estate's argument that the forced sale amounted to looting or theft. The court ordered Maria-Louise Bissonnette, a Providence resident and German baroness, to hand over a Franz Xaver Winterhalter painting valued at about $94,000 to the Stern estate. Bissonnette was not found to have perpetrated any wrongdoing herself, but she did not hold proper title to the work.

Stern's estate, set up to benefit Concordia as well as McGill University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has located about 400 of the dealer's works, and is currently in negotiation for about 20, including a Jan Brueghel the Elder painting in the hands of the Dutch government, a Jean-Baptiste van Loo held by a Taiwan art foundation, and two Max Liebermann works in German hands. Stern was active in recovering works from his collection himself until his death in 1987.

"This case means the situation will change dramatically,'' said Monika Tatzkow, a Berlin-based restitution specialist and author. "It means the original owner of an artwork hasn't lost it if he was forced to sell it at auction for reasons of racial persecution. This court ruling will be referred to in other countries, too."