Category Archives: Dispute resolution

A room with a view… The Tate Modern’s viewing platform

Posted on: February 27, 2023 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

The Supreme Court stunned all those who have been following the plight of the residents of Neo Bankside. The long-winded legal dispute (Fearn and others (Appellants) v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery (Respondent) [2023] UKSC 4) started when the Tate Modern inaugurated its viewing platform on the Blavatnik Building in 2016 and it […]

High Court dismisses claim over sale of Chardin painting

Posted on: December 13, 2022 by Michael Bowmer

The High Court has dismissed a multi-million pound negligence claim [Feilding & Anor. v. Simon C. Dickinson Limited [2022] EWHC 3091 (Ch)] brought by the Countess of Wemyss and her co-trustee against an art dealer over the sale of the painting “Le Bénédicité” by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The painting had been acquired by the Countess’s ancestors in […]

What next for London’s embattled Holocaust memorial?

Posted on: November 12, 2022 by Hugh Johnson-Gilbert

In January 2016, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that a national memorial to the Holocaust would be built in Victoria Tower Gardens (“the Gardens”), next to the Palace of Westminster. Mr Cameron committed to building “a striking national memorial… to show the importance Britain places on preserving the memory of the Holocaust”. The winning […]

A North Carolina Filmmaker Continues to Challenge State Sovereign Immunity

Posted on: October 28, 2022 by Gina McKIveen

For nearly two decades, Rick Allen, an experienced underwater videographer and professional photographer, documented the retrieval and recovery process of an 18th century pirate shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina. A dispute over the copyright in the works produced between Allen and the State of North Carolina (the “State”) is now approaching its tenth […]

The Treasures of Crimea: new documentary launching this Friday

Posted on: October 12, 2022 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

There is a fine balance between unbiased, objective reporting and the dissection of the emotional layers in a subject that is the mark of a great documentary. A new documentary on the epic tale of the Crimean Treasures in a Dutch museum and the ensuing legal disputes managed to strike this fine balance with perfect […]

Unanimous verdict from US Supreme Court in Nazi-looted art case: the long-running Cassirer case continues

Posted on: April 25, 2022 by Stephanie Drawdy

The seventeen-year title dispute over a Parisian winter streetscape by Camille Pissarro has now tilted in favor of the heirs whose German-Jewish ancestor was forced to part with the masterwork during the Holocaust. On 21 April 2022, the United States Supreme Court unanimously vacated a judgment by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that had […]

U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in case of Nazi-looted Pissarro

Posted on: January 19, 2022 by Stephanie Drawdy

For just over one hour on Tuesday 18th January, the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument centered on procedural issues that will decide the next steps in the protracted case involving a Camille Pissarro masterwork.[1] The painting, Rue Saint-Honoré, après-midi, effet de pluie, is currently held by Spain in its Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo […]

Cassirer heirs may challenge ruling favoring Spanish foundation over Nazi-plundered Pissarro

Posted on: October 26, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy

The Cassirer heirs recently received another negative ruling in their lawsuit to recover a Nazi-looted painting by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro, but this case has not yet ended. The heirs indicated their intent to request a rehearing of the Ninth Circuit’s holding that, under Spanish law, title to the Pissarro is rightly held by the […]

Latest issue of Art Antiquity & Law available now

Posted on: September 8, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

We are pleased to announce that the latest issue (Vol XXV, 2) of our journal Art Antiquity & Law is available now, please see below for details on subscriptions and access.  Paul Kearns provides the readers with a comprehensive panorama of the international legal regulations on freedom of artistic expression, a fundamental but much overlooked and […]

Guelph Treasure Appeal Pending in U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on: August 21, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy

A collection of ecclesiastical art known as the Guelph Treasure (Welfenschatz) is at the center of a U.S. restitution claim brought by heirs of Holocaust victims who sold it during the Nazi reign, previously discussed here. Having held the highly valued collection for approximately six decades, Germany is unwilling to part with what it considers […]