{"id":95181,"date":"2022-07-27T17:05:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=95181"},"modified":"2022-07-18T07:33:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T05:33:04","slug":"17-00-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=95181","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules Houston Museum Can Keep Nazi-Looted Painting Owned by German-Jewish Art Collector"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Judge Rules Houston Museum Can Keep Nazi-Looted Painting Owned by German-Jewish Art Collector<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Marketplace at Pirna\u201d (ca. 1764), by Bernardo Bellotto. Photo: Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston \/ public domain<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A federal judge ruled this week that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) can maintain ownership of an 18th century painting, in a decision against a German Jewish family who said their grandfather was forced to sell the artwork to Adolf Hitler\u2019s art dealer, the Houston Chronicle<\/em><\/a> reported.<\/span><\/p>\n

Max James Emden\u2019s grandchildren argued<\/a> in federal court that their family are the rightful owners of \u201cThe Marketplace at Pirna\u201d by Bernardo Bellotto, because Emden \u2014 a department store magnate and art collector \u2014 sold the landscape painting under duress to Nazi art dealer Karl Haberstock in 1938. They believe the artwork should be returned to their family<\/span><\/p>\n

After World War II, the painting, which shows a busy marketplace in Germany, was mistakenly given by the Allies to the Dutch government. The artwork then came into the possession of an international art dealer Hugo Moser, who sold it to a foundation who gifted the piece to the MFAH in 1961.<\/span><\/p>\n

US District Judge Keith P. Ellison ruled that under the Act of State doctrine, the US government cannot interfere with the actions of sovereign governments \u2014 in this instance, the error in the painting\u2019s return that led to the artwork being obtained by the museum. The court decided that the Dutch government is responsible for the mistake, and that the US cannot meddle with a sovereign government\u2019s decisions, according to the Houston Chronicle<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Emden family said in their lawsuit that the painting was taken from their grandfather after his business suffered as a result of Nazi laws imposed against Jews, the Houston Chronicle <\/em>reported.  Their argument discussed the Nazi genocide of Jews, and how those of Jewish heritage were stripped of their citizenship and forced to surrender their businesses and assets. Emden\u2019s heirs said \u201cThe Marketplace at Pirna\u201d was stolen from their grandfather\u2019s personal collection in Switzerland, where he immigrated before 1930.<\/span><\/p>\n

MFAH claimed, however, that Emden sold the artwork voluntarily to Haberstock, who met the Jewish businessman\u2019s asking price. The museum argued that when it \u201cthoroughly researched and reviewed the claim, we found no evidence that suggests that the Bellotto had been stolen, seized, or confiscated, and we have extensive documentation that in 1938 Dr. Max Emden, a Swiss citizen and resident, initiated the voluntary sale of our painting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The painting was discovered in a salt mine in Austria by the Monuments Men, a group of British and Americans who retrieved thousands of artworks stolen by the Nazis and returned them to their original owners. The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art said last year that it sides with the Emden family in the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Ellison\u2019s ruling, the foundation told the Houston Chronicle<\/em> that the MFAH\u2019s refusal to return the painting is an \u201cexample of greed\u201d over \u201cgrace.\u201d It added that last year, the museum\u2019s director falsely claimed that the Bellotto in MFAH\u2019s collection is not the one the Emdens are after, even though \u201cthe (museum\u2019s) own website listed both Max Emden, and Karl Haberstock, Hitler\u2019s main art buyer, in the chain of title.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of any court ruling, a painting once owned by a German Jew, stripped of his assets by the Nazis, now hangs in one of our nation\u2019s wealthiest museums because of a 1946 clerical error and a 1951 fraud,\u201d the foundation told the Chronicle<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em>
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judge Rules Houston Museum Can Keep Nazi-Looted Painting Owned by German-Jewish Art Collector Shiryn Ghermezian \u201cThe Marketplace at Pirna\u201d (ca. 1764), by Bernardo Bellotto. Photo: Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston \/ public domain A federal judge ruled this week that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) can maintain ownership of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95181"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95397,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95181\/revisions\/95397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}