Norton Simon countersues in rekindled fight over looted paintings

The museum claims a previous federal court judgment in its favor should block the Jewish Federation from contesting its ownership of the Renaissance paintings.LOS ANGELES (CN) — The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, sued the Jewish Federation-Council of Greater Los Angeles in response to a lawsuit the federation brought last month to claim ownership of two Renaissance paintings that were confiscated by the Nazis from their Jewish owners during World War II.The museum, in a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court, seeks a court order to stop the Jewish Federation from relitigating the ownership of the diptych “Adam and Eve,” painted around 1530 by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The museum acquired the work in 1971.The Norton Simon prevailed 10 years ago in a federal lawsuit by Marei von Saher, the heir of prominent Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker who fled the Netherlands with his family in 1940, after the German invasion, because they were Jewish.“The finality of the prior von Saher judgment is beyond dispute,” the museum says in its complaint. “After 12 years of litigation, including parallel lawsuits, multiple appeals and voluminous discovery, this court found on the merits that the museum was the sole owner of the Cranachs.”The Anti-Injunction Act, according to the museum, expressly permits a federal district court to enjoin state court proceedings where, as in the case of the Cranach paintings, doing so is necessary to protect or effectuate its judgments.The Jewish Federation, as assignees of von Saher, sued the Norton Simon last month in LA County Superior Court under a 2024 California law giving state residents a two-year window to sue for the return of art works lost through political persecution.The statute applies to previously unsuccessful lawsuits to recover Nazi-looted art works in federal court and it requires the use of California law, which unlike some foreign laws, doesn’t recognize legal transfer of title by art thieves.The “Adam and Eve” diptych has an unusual provenance as it was twice looted — first by the Soviet Union from the wealthy Stroganoff family and secondly by the Nazis from Goudstikker, who bought the paintings in 1931 when the Soviet Union put them up for auction.Goudstikker, one of the most prominent and important Old Masters art dealers in the Netherlands, had to flee in May 1940 with his wife and 1-year-old son on a boat after the German invasion and takeover of the country. He died during the crossing to Great Britain and left behind a collection of more than 1,200 paintings.Much of his collection, including the Cranach diptych, was seized by Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command.Although Goudstikker’s widow was able to recover part of the collection after the war, her acrimonious settlement with the Dutch government in 1952 didn’t include the works stolen by Göring, which remained in the Netherlands.According to the Norton Simon’s lawsuit, it was the widow’s own business decision at the time not to pursue restitution for those paintings.The Dutch government sold the Cranach paintings in 1966 to George Stroganoff-Scherbatoff, a scion of the Russian family, who claimed ownership of the works confiscated by the Soviet Union.In later proceedings with the Dutch government, von Saher was able to recover another 200 works of art from her father-in-law’s collection.The Norton Simon bought the Cranach diptych from Stroganoff for $800,000.Representatives of the Jewish Federation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.The Norton Simon seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction under the All Writs Act and the Anti-Injunction Act to force the Jewish Federation to drop its state court lawsuit.The museum is represented by attorneys from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.Categories / Arts, Courts, LawSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads