Nazi-looted “Adam” and “Eve” paintings to stay in California
LOS ANGELES — A judge has ruled in favour of a Southern California museum in its 10-year legal battle over the ownership of two German Renaissance masterpieces that were seized by the Nazis in World War II.
U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter ruled last week that Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum, where the paintings “Adam” and “Eve” have been for more than 30 years, is the rightful owner of the two life-size oil-on-panel paintings.
The museum called the decision mindful of “the facts and law at the heart of the dispute,” the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/2byipAv ) Monday.
Marei von Saher alleged that the paintings were seized from her father-in-law, Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, after his family fled Holland during the Holocaust.