Baroness Appealing Court Ruling to Hand Over Nazi-Looted Artwork

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A German Baroness based in Providence is appealing a court decision ordering her to hand over an artwork looted and auctioned by Nazis to the estate of a Jewish art dealer, reports the Associated Press.

Maria-Luise Bissonnette's grandfather, a low-ranking Nazi, bought the work, Girl from the Sabine Mountains at auction after the Nazis forced dealer Max Stern to liquidate his family's Dusseldorf art gallery in 1937 because he was Jewish.

Stern's estate located the painting three years ago when Bissonnette tried to sell it at auction. The estate won its lawsuit against Bissonnette in December.

An attorney for the baroness filed arguments at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Monday. Among other things, the suit argues that Stern's estate waited too long to seek the work's return.