SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A federal appeals court on Monday resurrected a Jewish family's long legal battle to regain ownership of a $20 million masterpiece painting seized in Nazi Germany during World War II.
In doing so, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also reinstated a California law allowing lawsuits over art ownership disputes dating back as far as 100 years. The decision reversed a lower court ruling that invalidated the law saying it infringed on the U.S. government's exclusive authority over foreign affairs.
At issue is the French impressionistic painting "Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie" painted in 1897 by Camille Pissarro.
Prominent German businessman Julius Cassirer purchased the painting the next year and it passed on to his son Fritz and Fritz's wife Lilly when Julius died. When Fritz and Lilly decided to flee Nazi Germany in 1939, they were required to hand over the painting to the Nazi government in exchange for $360 and a visa to leave the country.
After World War II, Lilly unsuccessfully attempted to locate the painting and said she accepted about $13,000 in restitution in the German courts in the 1950s. Lilly died in 1962 and named her grandson Claude Cassirer as her sole heir.