Repatriation - Summer 2015

1. LOS ANGELES, CA.- The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has ruled in favor of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation and the Kingdom of Spain in an artwork dispute that has spanned a decade. In its June 4th Order granting the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation's motion for summary judgment‎, the U.S. District Court confirmed that the Foundation is the rightful owner of the oil painting by Camille Pissarro, Rue Saint-Honore, après-midi, effet de pluie (1897). More Information: http://artdaily.com/news/79236/Spanish-museum-wins-ten-year-legal-dispute-over-ownership-of-Pissarro-painting#.VXtNgrN0zIU

2. BERLIN (AFP).- More than two years after masterpieces looted by the Nazi regime were discovered in a Munich apartment, the first artwork was returned to the heirs of its original owner Friday. The 1921 painting Seated Woman, also known as Woman with a Fan, originally belonged to Paul Rosenberg, but was looted as he fled from Germany to France in the 40s. It was discovered in 2012 among a trove of stashed artworks in the Munich flat of reclusive collector Cornelius Gurlitt. More Information: http://artdaily.com/news/78599/Henri-Matisse-painting-looted-by-Nazis-and-hidden-by-Cornelius-Gurlitt-returned-to-heirs#.VYSLrLN0zIU

3. BAGHDAD (AFP).- The United States returned Wednesday hundreds of Iraqi artefacts its special forces recovered during a raid in Syria against a man described as the Islamic State group's top financier. Some of the pieces were displayed at the Iraqi national museum during a repatriation ceremony attended by Antiquities Minister Adel Shirshab and US Ambassador Stuart Jones. More Information: http://artdaily.com/news/80041/United-States-returns-Iraqi-artefacts-recovered-in-Islamic-State-group-s-top-financier-raid#.VafuLBNViko

4. JERUSALEM (AFP).- An Israeli court has awarded a rare collection of Franz Kafka's manuscripts to the country's national library, ending a long legal battle worthy of one of the Prague-born writer's complex stories. The judgement, published Wednesday, ordered Tel Aviv resident Eva Hoffe to hand all the papers in her possession to the National Library of Israel. More Information: http://artdaily.com/news/79754/Prague-born-writer-Franz-Kafka-papers-belong-to-Israel-national-library--Israeli-court#.VafyBxNViko

5. LOS ANGELES It’s becoming more likely that a jury will decide whether the Norton Simon Museum's "Adam" and "Eve" can stay where they are despite having been looted by the Nazis during World War II.U.S. District Judge John Walter has tentatively set March 29, 2016, as the opening day for a trial in a case that's already gone on for eight years. Marei Von Saher, who lives in Connecticut, sued in 2007 for the return of “Adam” and “Eve” as stolen property the invading Nazis had seized from her family in 1940. More Information: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-adam-and-eve-nazi-looted-art-norton-simon-20150710-story.html

6. NEW YORK Congolese art collector and businessman Sindika Dokolo has launched a worldwide campaign to return to the African continent African art that currently resides in Western Institution and auction houses. More Information: https://news.artnet.com/people/sindika-dokolo-repatriate-african-art-315999

7. NEW YORK -July 1, 2015 8:04 p.m. ET A stolen bronze Indian religious relic worth an estimated $1 million was recovered Wednesday by federal customs agents as part of a continuing investigation into a former New York-based art dealer.The dealer, Subhash Kapoor, is now awaiting trial in India for allegedly looting artifacts worth tens of millions of dollars.
Mr. Kapoor operated a now-defunct gallery on the Upper East Side called Art of the Past. Prosecutors allege that between 1995 and 2012 he illegally imported and sold stolen antiquities from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere, often using forged documents to pass the items off as legitimate.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit and the Manhattan district attorney’s office have together recovered more than 2,500 artifacts worth more than $100 million from the gallery and storage facilities in and around New York City.
Kenneth J. Kaplan, a lawyer in New York representing Mr. Kapoor, declined to comment Wednesday, but said his client had asserted his innocence both to him and to his counsel in India. Mr. Kapoor has not yet entered a plea in India, according to a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.