Florida Daily: "Ted Deutch Urges Solicitor General to Review When Holocaust Began as Supreme Court Readies for Stolen Art Case" - Oct 26, 2020
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., joined U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., Gregory Meeks, D-NY, Grace Meng, D-NY, Max Rose, D-NY, and Greg Schneider, D-Ill., in a letter to U.S. Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall calling on him to change the current position on Federal Republic of Germany v. Alan Philipp.
Sullivan & Worcester: "At U.S. Supreme Court, Jewish Heirs Lay Claim to Treasure Taken by Nazi Agents in 1935" - Oct 22, 2020
The heirs to the Jewish art dealers who were forced to sell the Guelph Treasure to agents of Hermann Goering in 1935 filed their brief today. The Supreme Court is set to hear argument on December 7, 2020. See also Artnet News: "As a Lawsuit Over the Nazi-Looted Guelph Treasure Goes to the Supreme Court, Congressional Leaders Blast Germany’s Attempt to Derail It"
ARTnews: "Mondrian Heirs Sue German Museum, Seeking Recovery of Paintings Worth $200 M." - Oct 21, 2020
As part of an ongoing, yearslong effort to recover ownership rights of several paintings created by Dutch modernist Piet Mondrian in his signature style in the 1920s, the late artist’s heirs filed a lawsuit against a German museum in U.S. District Court, District of Columbia. Story also reported in Art Forum, Art Newspaper, & Artnet News.
ARCA: "5 looters have been arrested in Pella, Greece for conducting a clandestine excavation" - Oct 19, 2020
Five looters, aged 43 to 50, were arrested by law enforcement officers of the Department of Heritage and Antiquities Protection of the Thessaloniki Security Directorate after having been caught digging an eight-meter deep hole at an archeological site located within the prefecture of Pella.
Law360: "Justices Urged To Make Germany Face $250M Nazi Art Fight" - Oct 19, 2020
An advocacy group representing U.S. Orthodox Jews is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to force Germany to face claims relating to $250 million worth of medieval art that was allegedly looted by the Nazis, saying an exception under sovereign immunity law doesn't apply.
New York Times: "After 75 years and 15 claims, a bid to regain lost art inches forward" - Oct 16, 2020
The judge presiding over perhaps the longest-running art restitution dispute had not been born when the family of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog, one of Hungary’s most prominent bankers, filed a claim in Budapest in 1945 for a collection of 2,500 artworks, Renaissance furniture and tapestries.
Associated Press: "Jewish family’s painting looted by Nazis in 1933 is returned" - Oct 15, 2020
The painting is expected to be auctioned through Sotheby’s, where it could attract bids in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Middle East Eye: "Coronavirus: Iraq's heritage sites suffer renewed wave of looting amid pandemic" - Oct 12, 2020
Economic woes exacerbated by the Covid-19 outbreak have prompted a rise in illegal activity.