Otto Kallir and Kurt Valentin – Bridges from the Reich,

Bridges from the Reich: The Importance of Emigré Art Dealers as Reflected in the Case Studies of Otto Kallir and Kurt Valentin by Jonathan Petropoulos (Claremont McKenna College)

Working paper Petropolous Valentin – Kallir Vienna 2009

This is the draft for the lecture given at the Viennese Conference

Hitler’s Europe:

New Perspectives on Occupation

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

14.00 Panel III: Looting and Exploitation in Nazi-occupied Europe

Terezin Declaration

Upon the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic we the representatives of 46 states listed below met this day, June 30, 2009 in Terezin, where thousands of European Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution died or were sent to death camps during World War II. We participated in the Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference organized by the Czech Republic and its partners in Prague and Terezin from 26-30 June 2009, discussed together with experts and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives important issues such as Welfare of Holocaust (Shoah) Survivors and other Victims of Nazi Persecution, Immovable Property, Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Sites, Nazi-Confiscated and Looted Art, Judaica and Jewish Cultural Property, Archival Materials, and Education, Remembrance, Research and Memorial Sites.

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2009 07 08 Terezin Declaration

Nazi Looted Art in U.S. Museums: Amb. Stuart Eizenstat’s Call for a US Commission

This article is cross-posted (see  Copyright Litigation Blog by Raymond Dowd)

eizenstatAmbassador Stuart E. Eizenstat was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to lead a delegation to the Prague Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets. Eizenstat was the principle architect of the 1999 Washington Conference on the same topic. He authored the book Imperfect Justice and has been instrumental in achieving international solutions that afford restitution to Holocaust victims.
In the PBS video linked to below, Eizenstat calls for the U.S. to create a commission of experts to rule on ownership issues and decries U.S. museums that are asserting “technical defenses” such as statutes of limitations against Holocaust victims and their heirs.
Check out http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/07/conversation-stuart-eizenstat.html

For the full text of what came out of the Prague Conference, known as the Terezin Declaration, click here

Nazi Looted Art at Oberlin College and Other U.S. Museums: Prague Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets

This article is cross-posted (see  Copyright Litigation Blog by Raymond Dowd)

In late June I was invited to speak on a panel of legal experts on artwork looted by the Nazis. My topic was legal obstacles to the recovery of stolen artworks.

girl with black hairThe image you see here is of an artwork by the artist Egon Schiele called Girl with Black Hair. Every major Schiele expert in the world – Jane Kallir, Eberhard Kornfeld and Rudolph Leopold – has said that this artwork came from Fritz Grunbaum’s collection. Yet Oberlin College refuses to return it – or even to share their research or conclusions about where they believe it came from. Oberlin’s website shows that the work mysteriously surfaced in Switzerland in 1956 – and stops there.

U.S. museums and liberal arts institutions concealing the origins of their artworks is one of the biggest obstacles to researchers being able to restitute artworks to the Jews and other Nazi persecutees from whom they were stolen. As Holocaust victims and their descendants die, U.S. museums simply wait, knowing that they have stolen artworks in their collections. In his 2006 testimony to Congress, AAMD Director James Cuno estimated the number of potentially Nazi-looted works in U.S. museums at “tens of thousands”.

It is astonishing that U.S. museums can engage in this Holocaust denial and feel no backlash. Shame on Oberlin College. Its Dean should be tossed out on his ear.

Amb. Stuart Eizenstat supports a U.S. Art Restitution Commission. Good for him, and not a moment too soon.

You can find my full speech in Prague at the link below.

http://artstolenfromfritzgrunbaum.wordpress.com/category/speech-at-holocaust-conference/live-recorded/

Disclosure: I represent the heirs of Fritz Grunbaum, a Jewish cabaret performer who was murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz.

International Holocaust Conference

26 – 30 June 2009, Prague, Terezín, Czech Republic

The Holocaust Era Assets Conference will be held in Prague and Terezín, Czech Republic, on 26-30 June 2009, hosted by the Government of the Czech Republic in co-operation with the Forum 2000 Foundation, Documentation Centre of Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WW II Victims, Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, Jewish Museum in Prague, Terezín Memorial, and Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hussite Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague.

A number of thematic topics selected by the specialised working groups will be discussed by professional experts: settlement of property claims (movable and immovable assets), provenance of stolen works of art, Judaica and Jewish cultural property, and education, remembrance and research about the Holocaust.

Panel 1: Legal Issues

Chair:

  • Charles A. Goldstein (United States, Commission for Art Recovery)

Speakers:

  • Olaf S. Ossmann (Germany, IAJLJ) – One Collection, One Persecution, One Deseizin –  but Different ideas of ” Just and Fair Solutions” Hurdles in Different National Processes for Heirs of Art Collections
  • Raymond J. Dowd (United States, Dunnington Bartholow and Miller LLP) – Fritz Grunbaum’s Stolen Art Collection:  Legal Obstacles To Recovery
  • Marc-André Renold (Switzerland, The University of Geneva) – The Renewal of the Restitution Process: Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods
  • Stephen Knerly Jr. (United States, Association of Art Museum Directors) – Selected Issues for American Art Museums Regarding Holocaust Looted Art
  • Norman Palmer (United Kingdom, Spoliation Advisory Panel) – Integrity, Transparency and Pertinacity in the Treatment of Holocaust-Related Art Claims

For more information, please visit the conference websites at

http://www.holocausteraassets.eu/