Posted on: January 27, 2016 by Judith Bouchardeau and Mathilde Roellinger
The discovery of the art forgery scandal perpetrated by Wolfang Beltracchi has given rise to a number of legal proceedings. The recent decision of the Court of Appeal of Versailles, involving art expert Werner Spies and a painting attributed to Max Ernst, is among them. The facts are as follows. At the 2004 Paris Biennale […]
Posted on: September 3, 2015 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
Our friends at the Franco-British Lawers Society (England & Wales section) will be hosting a free event in London on 9 October entitled ‘The Art of Advising – Art Law in Practice‘. The event will be held at Notre Dame University, London campus (famous venue for a number of IAL courses and conferences) and will run […]
Posted on: July 10, 2015 by Alexander Herman
Just a quick update to say that yesterday the European Parliament voted – overwhelmingly – to remove the proposed restrictions on Freedom of Panorama (FOP) from the report currently being debated. The proposal had been outlined in two earlier blogs: here and here. That means the status quo will be maintained: countries such as the UK, […]
Posted on: December 8, 2014 by Mathilde Roellinger
The French Constitutional Council, in a decision rendered on 14 November 2014, declared that article 2 of the law of 23 June 1941 concerning the export of works of art did not comply with the Constitution. The application for a priority preliminary ruling was submitted by an owner of precious furniture who, in the 1980s, […]
Posted on: June 27, 2014 by Alexander Herman
It has recently been reported that an 18th Century tapestry belonging to Comte Bernard de la Rochefoucauld and looted from the Château de Versainville during the Nazi occupation of France has been voluntarily returned by the University of Sheffield in the UK. The tapestry, which had been taken from the Comte’s residence, was later bought by the […]
Posted on: May 3, 2014 by Hélène Deslauriers
For decades, the Vienna Philharmonic, a 172-year-old institution, held in its storage facility a painting by French artist Paul Signac paintend in 1883. The painting, taken by a German official in 1940 from a French Resistance fighter, was given as a gift to the Viennese orchestra for performances given to German soldiers in France in […]
Posted on: March 14, 2014 by Alexander Herman
A ceremony took place last Monday to commemorate the most recent restitution of three looted paintings by the French State. The speech accompanying the return by French Minister of Culture Aurélie Filippetti demonstrated a change in approach by the French State regarding looted paintings still held by French Museums. It appears Museums will be required to undertake […]