In another confusing art world twist, a Connecticut woman is seeking to overturn the ruling of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in her fight for two very valuable 500 year old paintings. Marei Von Saher is seeking the return of two prized German paintings from the Norton Simon Museum in California. Currently, Holocaust survivors have been able to override the three year statue of limitations to recover ownership of valuables now in California that were lost in the war, but these rulings could mean they will lose that right. The paintings are on separate wooden panels and are of Adam and Eve, moments before the Fall, in the Garden of Eden by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Von Saher’s father-in-law was a Dutch-Jewish art dealer who left the paintings in Holland while fleeing the Nazis. While that sounds pretty cut and dry, the paintings have a history of different owners, especially in their last century of existence. They changed hands in the Russian Revolution and again during Stalin’s reign of terror before Von Saher had to abandon them during the Holocaust. After World War II, the heirs of Von Saher settled with the Dutch government for ownership of the panels. If that wasn’t confusing enough, then the Dutch government transferred the paintings to George Stroganoff-Scherbatoff, who claimed them for his family of Russian nobles and subsequently sold them to Norton Simon in 1971. The tug-of-war ownership battle on these amazing works of art might have a little something to do with them being appraised in 2006 at $24 million US, although I’m sure that Von Saher is seeking them for sentimental value or perhaps just for some titillating art for her bedroom.
Who Owns These Masterpieces?
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