As a result of the Supreme Court's decision to deny cert on The Norton Simon Museum's appeal, Marei Von Saher, descendant of Jewish relatives who fled Holland during the Holocaust, will get another day in court on claims involving the ownership of Renaissance artist, Lucas Cranach the Elder's, life-sized diptychs of Adam and Eve (circa 1530).
Reported to be worth in excess of $24 million, the paintings have been at the center of a dispute brought to the courts by Von Saher in 2007. According to the Ninth Circuit's recitation of facts, Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch Jewish art dealer and Von Saher's father-in-law, purchased the works from the government of the Soviet Union in the '30s. Thereafter, the paintings were confiscated by Herman Göring through a purchase transaction from Goudstikker's gallery, and eventually recovered by the Monuments Men during World War II. While Goudstikker's widow recovered some of her husband's collection in the '50s in connection with a settlement with Dutch authorities, none of the works pilfered by Göring were recovered. After the war, the Cranach paintings were claimed by George Stroganoff Scherbatoff who argued the paintings were illegally seized by the Soviet Union decades earlier. As a result of his claims, the paintings were returned to his family by the Dutch government. However, the Goudskikker family was never notified of the Stroganoff claims, and thus, never provided an opportunity to dispute the claims. In 1971, a New York art dealer purchased the works from Stroganoff. Thereafter, the Norton Simon Museum acquired possession. Von Saher was not aware of the diptychs' location until 2000.
The Von Saher litigation hinges on procedural issues involving state and federal law. However, ultimately Von Saher's claim is a conversion claim under state law against the Norton Simon Museum. As a result, the Ninth Circuit concluded that these claims involve a dispute between private parties and that the matter should be remanded for the lower court to determine whether state doctrine (which is applicable because Von Saher seeks a declaration that she is the rightful owner, an order to quiet title, and immediate possession of the works) could defeat Von Saher's claims. The Ninth Circuit further noted that it will be necessary for the lower court to determine whether the return of the property to Stroganoff by the Dutch government "constituted an official act of a sovereign."
This is a curious case because it does not involve just the traditional statute of limitations arguments but rather involves two layers of wrongful conversion claims. Given the number of years that have passed it will be interesting to see what evidence is produced in support of the Museum's claim to the works.
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