California Attorney General Argues for Return of Nazi-Looted Painting Held by Madrid Museum

"California has rejoined the 20-year legal battle over a Camille Pissarro painting that was sold under duress during the Nazi regime. This week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed once more to return the work, which has continually been the subject of legal actions in the US, where a struggle between David Cassirer, the heir of Lilly Cassirer Neubauer, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid has played out in court."

"The painting in question, titled Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain (1897), is estimated to be valued in the "tens of millions" today. In 1939, Lilly Cassirer Neubauer was forced to sell the oil painting under duress to a Nazi art appraiser for 900 Reichsmarks (roughly $360 today) in exchange for a visa to flee Germany ahead of the impending war. According to court documents, she never received payment."

"In 1993, the painting was acquired by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum from the collector Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. The Cassirer Neubauer family long believed the painting was lost, but when they learned it was acquired by the museum, they requested its return. When the museum refused, Neubauer's son Claude Cassirer filed a lawsuit in 2000. Since his passing in 2010, the claim was taken up by his son David, his daughter Ava's estate, and the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County."

"Earlier this year in September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that allows exceptions when personal property in question was taken "as a result of political persecution." With the passing of that new law, Bonta is now defending the state's legal authority to require stolen art and artifacts to be returned to victims in and connected to the state."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has reasserted the state's effort to recover a Camille Pissarro painting taken under Nazi duress. The work, Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain (1897), is valued in the "tens of millions." In 1939 Lilly Cassirer Neubauer was forced to sell the painting for 900 Reichsmarks to obtain a visa and reportedly never received payment. The painting entered the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection in 1993. Lawsuits began in 2000 and continue with heirs David Cassirer, Ava's estate, and the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County. California passed a law allowing exceptions for property taken as a result of political persecution, enabling state action to seek restitution.

Read at ARTnews.com