French Woman vs. University of Oklahioma over WW2 plundered art work.

[OU_Sooners75]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/21...oted-painting/

A French woman who says a painting was stolen from her family by the Nazis during World War II has filed a lawsuit against the University of Oklahoma in a bid to get the 128-year-old piece of artwork back.

Leone Meyer is suing the university in federal court to recover the impressionist painting, "Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep" by Camille Pissarro, which is on display in OU's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

According to Reuters, when Paris fell during the war, German troops looted artwork owned by Meyer's father, local businessman Raoul Meyer, who had a large collection of French impressionist paintings.

The lawsuit alleges the painting had been registered as stolen artwork that once belonged to the family and entered the United States without the family's knowledge in 1956, Reuters reported.

The Pissarro painting reportedly had several owners over the years and was purchased from a New York art gallery by oil executive Aaron Weitzenhoffer in 1956. The piece was among 33 paintings donated to the university after Weitzenhoffer's wife died in 2000.

"Oklahoma, as most U.S. jurisdictions, has accepted the common law rule that no one, not even a good faith purchaser for value, can obtain good title to stolen property," according to court documents filed for the family and obtained by the news agency.

The university says it is honoring the outcome of a court case from 1953 in which a Swiss judge dismissed a suit filed by Raoul Meyer and allowed the painting to remain in the United States.

"The highly regarded Jewish family from Oklahoma who gave the painting to us also had friends and family members endangered at the time of the Holocaust. They are deeply opposed, as is the University, to the theft of art by the Nazis," University President David Boren told Reuters in a statement.
The school has said it will return the painting if ordered to do so by the court, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Paul Wesselhoft, a Republican legislator from Oklahoma City, is sponsoring a resolution calling for the painting to be returned. He told Reuters that keeping the piece on display would be an embarrassment for the state and the school.

"It is the right and moral thing to do for OU to return this painting to the Jewish family from which the Nazis plundered it," Wesselhoft said. "Keeping this painting is an embarrassment. I'm ashamed that it's in the museum."

What do you think? Should the University just give it back? I am actually in agreement with the state rep. Send it back, especially if the university knows it was plundered by the Nazi's.

[rock on sooner]

If the piece is verified as having been taken by the Nazis, by all means,
return it. It is a travesty what the Nazis did to the art world!

[Soonerjeepman]

lol...I agree, but my first thought was the rep, Paul W, was a osu grad...then I rethought that, prob not sheep humper enough~

[stoopified]

If it is the family's painting,then by all means it MUST be returned.

[virginiasooner]

GIVE. IT. BACK. This is a total no-brainer.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

The university says it is honoring the outcome of a court case from 1953 in which a Swiss judge dismissed a suit filed by Raoul Meyer and allowed the painting to remain in the United States.

But a Swiss judge dismissed the suit, saying Meyer filed his complaint after a five-year window for such lawsuits had passed.

http://www.law360.com/articles/26727...ctim-s-drawing

A New York federal judge ruled last week that an art collector can keep a drawing by Austrian painter Egon Schiele once owned by a Holocaust victim because relatives of the victim had failed to pursue stolen property claims for decades.

ouch, talk about a legal mess.

[diverdog]

http://www.law360.com/articles/26727...ctim-s-drawing



ouch, talk about a legal mess.

Yes it is not as easy as just giving it back.

[badger]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/21...oted-painting/What do you think? Should the University just give it back? I am actually in agreement with the state rep. Send it back, especially if the university knows it was plundered by the Nazi's.

It's not like it's been hidden back in grandma's attic or Hitler's tomb. It's been out there on display, it's been contested in a lawsuit before and they've lost before.

Thus, if left up to the courts, I'd say that the courts are going to stick with the verdict handed down by the Swiss in 1953. I'd say about the only chance Miss French Woman has of getting it back is appealing to OU and Oklahomans' generosity, or getting a rich benefactor to buy it from OU and get it returned that way.

There's been Internet speculation that the reason Max Weitzenhoffer was getting free reign over the OU band was because art donations were at stake (I kept hearing "Picasso" last fall but I have yet to see a Picasso mentioned in the media anywhere), so I really don't expect OU or Weitzenhoffer to cave without a judicial order. It can be argued that part of art history is pieces getting plundered, found by accident, etc.

I personally want no part of it or anything that the Nazis touched, but then again, I'm not the one that had the family that invested millions in it.

[ouwasp]

I sure don't know about all the legalese. But does what's beyond the surface really matter? Seems open and shut. Return it to the owner.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I sure don't know about all the legalese. But does what's beyond the surface really matter? Seems open and shut. Return it to the owner.

Which owner? The thing has passed hands like 15 times since that 1953 case.

The second problem is the "original" owner's claim. He put forth a claim in the same court for 18 paintings (which were all returned) within the 5 years and then added 5-6 later (which were not, as part of this lawsuit).

[badger]

He put forth a claim in the same court for 18 paintings (which were all returned) within the 5 years and then added 5-6 later (which were not, as part of this lawsuit).

Will there ever be a statute of limitations on WW2 wrongdoings? We're still seeing former SS' hiding out in the U.S. getting extradited back to Europe for their eventual comeuppance.

I'm not saying there should be, I'm just not sure that Nazi Germany and anyone who benefited from their crimes against humanity can ever be fully cleansed of the past, nor can the numerous victims ever be repaid in full.

Maybe there's a compromise that can be reached that doesn't involve ownership transfer.

[diverdog]

Seems to me if the French had not rolled over this would not be an issue!

[sooneron]

There's been Internet speculation that the reason Max Weitzenhoffer was getting free reign over the OU band was because art donations were at stake (I kept hearing "Picasso" last fall but I have yet to see a Picasso mentioned in the media anywhere), so I really don't expect OU or Weitzenhoffer to cave without a judicial order.

Seriously? JUST the band? The internet knows so little...

[badger]

Seriously? JUST the band? The internet knows so little...

Well, I know he's also a Regent, but I don't recall the last time the regents haven't done exactly what Boren has wanted so I'm not sure that really matters anymore. I also know he has the fine arts program named after him and he donates a lot of money and owns some London theatres and blah blah, but really, I have no insider knowledge on the inner workings of OU. I can safely assume that Boren loves money at a time when state appropriations are covering less of a percentage of overall expenses.

Because I was curious if anyone else was dealing with this issue, I googled "nazi art" and lo and behold, Germany is working to refine its laws and most other museums also want no part of declaring ownership or dealing with the art's past "owners."

More info on new law here.

While Germany's current laws set the statute of limitations at 30 years for these cases, spokesperson Ulrike Roider from the Justice Ministry of the state of Bavaria — which has introduced the bill — said the measure "aims to block the invocation of the statute of limitations in the case of a looted arm claim."

Considering the rate at which art is going at auction and shows lately, I don't expect anyone claiming ownership of art to concede any ground anywhere, even in the name or righting Nazi wrongs. Art is the new gold for the wealthy, and they're acquiring it en masse at high prices.

[sooneron]

He's meddled in FAR more than the band, just sayin'.

[ouwasp]

Which owner? The thing has passed hands like 15 times since that 1953 case.

The second problem is the "original" owner's claim. He put forth a claim in the same court for 18 paintings (which were all returned) within the 5 years and then added 5-6 later (which were not, as part of this lawsuit).

okay, see, jkm, you've delved into it more than I care to, and that's fine. You raise very good points. But most folks are going to simply see the headline and figure why the devil would OU/Boren want to taint their image by even being party in the remotest sense to the Nazi pillaging? The knee-jerk reaction is going to be exactly that, right or wrong...guess that's one of the reasons internet message boards exist.

btw, I think I'd be in favor of firing squad justice for those old SS fossils...and since my opinion has no bearing on it actually happening, I'm comfortable in keeping it.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

okay, see, jkm, you've delved into it more than I care to, and that's fine. You raise very good points. But most folks are going to simply see the headline and figure why the devil would OU/Boren want to taint their image by even being party in the remotest sense to the Nazi pillaging? The knee-jerk reaction is going to be exactly that, right or wrong...guess that's one of the reasons internet message boards exist.

btw, I think I'd be in favor of firing squad justice for those old SS fossils...and since my opinion has no bearing on it actually happening, I'm comfortable in keeping it.

I read a couple of books on it because of the amber room (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_room). Not shocking in the least but there were tons of people trying to con people after the end of the war. Records of transactions like that were hit and miss from area to area. There are also a bunch of missing works (both literary and artistic) that are believed to be brought back home by US GIs. The fact that most of Hitler's personal effects made it over here suggests there may be some validity to that.

[Dallasbabe]

french women. french bitches here?