In 2007, Marei von Saher filed a suit claiming she is the rightful heir to a pair of life-size portraits of Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder. According to von Saher, the works were forcibly purchased by the Nazi’s during World War II from her late husband’s family — the Goudstikkers, who were Jewish Dutch art dealers.
In a 2016 decision, the court ruled that the two works will remain at the Norton Simon Museum because the Goudstikker family failed to meet a known 1951 deadline which allowed Dutch citizens to void any sales to the Nazis and ask for restitution. This, in turn, left the Netherlands as the legal owner and they then sold the works to George Stroganoff in 1966. A few years later, he sold them to Norton Simon.
Since then, von Saher has been appealing the judgment. Now, von Saher’s lawyer has filed a petition that the case be reheard en banc — meaning all judges who serve on the appellate court would consider and vote on a decision. It’s rare that courts rehear cases in that manner.
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Appeal filed in Norton Simon Nazi-seized art case
The Nazis stole this family’s painting, but a judge ruled Pasadena’s Norton Simon gets to keep it