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Adam and Eve of Cranach (c. 1530)
A US court rejected a claim for a pair of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder of Adam and Eve at Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California . The claim came from Marei von Saher, the daughter-in-law of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.
The Cranachs, dating from about 1530, were seized by Nazi leader Hermann Göring in 1940. They were recovered by the Allies at the end of World War II and returned to the Dutch government. Goudstikker's heirs failed to make a claim in the Netherlands before the end of 1951. In 1966, the Cranach were sold by the Dutch government to George Stroganoff-Sherbatoff, a former Russian and then American aristocrat. In turn, he sold the paintings to the Norton Simon Museum in 1971. They were recently valued at $ 24 million.
Von Saher, who lives in Connecticut, brought an action against the Dutch government in the 1990s dismissed by the Dutch courts on the grounds that his family had waived his rights after the war.
After the Dutch rejection, von Saher sued the Norton Simon Museum, arguing that he had acquired the Cranach in an invalid sale because Stroganoff had not been the rightful owner. After a long legal battle, with two previous decisions, the issue was brought before the Ninth Appeals Court of the US Circuit in San Francisco.
On July 30, the court of appeal upheld an earlier decision in favor of the museum, arguing that the issue had been decided by the Dutch authorities. The procedure of "state doctrine" means that she did not have the power to invalidate the decisions of the Dutch government.
The Norton Simon Art Foundation issued a statement saying that the latest decision "should finally put an end to this case, and we look forward to continuing to make these important works accessible to the public." Lawrence Kaye, von Saher's lawyer, said she was disappointed and that she "considered her next steps."
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