http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8015589.htm

Woman goes to Supreme Court to recover art taken by Nazis

LINDA MASSARELLA

Associated Press
 

LOS ANGELES - When she looks at the print that hangs on her living room
wall, Maria Altmann can't help but wince and recall when she used to gaze
upon the real thing, Austrian painter Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele
Bloch Bauer."

The painting, portraying the haunting face of an attractive woman encased in
triangles of splendid gold, is considered one of Klimt's best. Altmann, who
is Adele Bloch Bauer's niece, used to see it hanging in her aunt's home in
Vienna when she was young.

It and five other Klimt paintings were seized by the Nazis soon after they
came to power in Austria in 1938. The works, worth as much as $150 million,
now hang in the Austrian Gallery, and Altmann is going to the U.S. Supreme
Court on Wednesday to try to get them back.

But the retired operator of a Beverly Hills clothing boutique doubts she'll
live long enough to see the paintings hang in her Los Angeles home, even if
the court rules in her favor.

"It's not as if they'll immediately order marshals into the gallery to seize
them and bring them back to me," said Altmann, a tall, still-handsome woman
of 88.

The issue before the court next week is whether Altmann has the right to
bring a lawsuit in a U.S. court against the Austrian government seeking the
return of her aunt's paintings. After a California court ruled in her favor,
the Supreme Court agreed to consider Austria's appeal.

The outcome could have broad implications for other cases, including two
pending Supreme Court appeals that involve a lawsuit against Japan by women
who claim they were used as sex slaves during World War II and a suit by
Holocaust survivors and heirs against the French national railroad for
transporting more than 70,000 Jews and others to Nazi concentration camps.

Altmann's lawyer, E. Randol Schoenberg, said his client's case is simple:
"It's art work that was looted by the Nazis, and U.S. law states that it
must be given back."

But an attorney for Austria said Altmann's aunt clearly intended for the
Austrian Gallery to have the paintings and, in any case, that any conflict
should be settled in that country's courts.

"There is no question the Nazis seized this property," said Scott P. Cooper,
a Los Angeles attorney representing Austria in the dispute. "The issue is
whether the U.S. has the power to compel a foreign power to turn them over.
The gallery where the paintings hang is a federal museum. That's why this is
a case of sovereign immunity."

Altmann, whose five siblings and husband are dead, said she would have
brought suit in Austria but the cost of doing so was prohibitively
expensive.

If she gets the paintings back, she would like to see them placed in either
a U.S. or Canadian museum.

According to Cooper, Bauer, who was a friend of Klimt's, left behind
instructions when she died in 1925 that the paintings go to her husband,
Ferdinand, and that upon his death they be turned over to the Austrian
Gallery.

But Altmann said that when her uncle died in exile in 1945 he left behind
his own instructions ordering that the paintings, if they were recovered, be
handed over to surviving family members.

In 1948, Cooper said, two of Altmann's brothers traveled to Vienna and, with
help from Allied military forces still in the country, did indeed recover
the paintings. He said the brothers, who have since died, gave them to the
gallery, in accordance with their aunt's wishes.

If the Supreme Court rules in Altmann's favor, the case will go to a U.S.
court for trial.

"We'll try it on the merits, which is about when Austria obtained the valid
title to the paintings," Schoenberg said. "If we argue on the merits,
Austria will have to return them.

"If we don't win, well," he said, pausing for a long breath. "That's still
unresolved."
 

Emory prof helps American sue Austria
http://www.emorywheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/13/402bd79327055?in_ar
chive=1

Maria Altmann's aunt is depicted in this portrait, part of a collection
taken by Nazis during World War II. Altmann is suing the Austrian government
to have the paintings returned to her. --Special

By Jeremy Stahl
Asst. News Editor
February 13, 2004
 

Sixty-five years after the Nazis looted the home of Austrian Jew Ferdinand
Bloch-Bauer and stole six paintings now worth more than $100 million,
Bloch-BauerÇs 87-year-old niece is using the American court system to try to
get the paintings back.

And an Emory law professor is trying to help.

Law Professor David Bederman has filed an Amicus Curiae brief on behalf of
Maria Altmann, who is suing the Austrian government for the return of the
Gustav Klimt paintings.

This month, the United States Supreme Court will read BedermanÇs Ñfriend of
the courtâ brief, which will accompany AltmannÇs own argument.

ÑThe question before the U.S. Supreme Court is, åCan [Altmann] sue Austria
in United States court?Çâ Bederman said.

After AltmannÇs original claim to retrieve the paintings was denied in
Austria, she sued the country in a California court.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 says Americans cannot sue
sovereign states, with a few explicit exceptions. One such exception
involves cases where foreign governments have seized an American citizenÇs
property.

ÑThe problem is that the law was passed in 1976, so the question is, åShould
it apply to acts that occurred before 1976?Çâ Bederman said.

He said it should, arguing that a 1950 Austrian Supreme Court decision
allowed Austrian citizens to sue Czechoslovakia for the return of seized
property.

ÑWhatÇs good for the goose is good for the gander,â Bederman said.

But Scott Cooper, who is representing Austria in front of the Supreme Court,
said BedermanÇs argument about jurisdiction is based on Austrian case law,
which is irrelevant to American law.

ÑBoth American law and Austrian law treat property differently,â Cooper
said. ÑWhat weÇre applying is American law.â

The Austrian court originally ruled against Altmann, because Bloch-BauerÇs
wifeÇs will left the paintings to the Austrian Gallery after Bloch-Bauer
died. The paintings were stolen by the Nazis before Bloch-Bauer died,
though, and he fled to Switzerland, where he began litigation against
Austria to retrieve the lost art.

Bloch-Bauer died in 1945, before he could see his paintings returned.

After World War II ended, the Austrian government retained the paintings at
the Austrian Gallery in Vienna, where they remain to this day.

ÑThe Austrian governmentÇs view [toward Altmann] is that the uncle willed
all this stuff to the Austrian government, åSo go away,Çâ Bederman said.

In its brief, AustriaÇs counsel argued that the events Ñoccurred before and
after World War II, independent of Nazi atrocities.â

The United States filed a brief in support of Austria, a move Bederman
criticized.

Bederman said the U.S. is afraid that if the Court rules in favor of
Altmann, the federal government will be liable in lawsuits from foreign
citizens.

ÑThe United States is worried that the shoe will be on the other foot,â he
said. ÑThe Solicitor General is more worried about protecting the U.S.
against suit by foreigners in foreign courts than they are about protecting
rights of the American citizens.â

Bederman argued before the Supreme Court in 2002. He represented a business
professor at Kennesaw State University who claimed he was unjustly accused
of sexual harassment and that anti-Semitic administrators targeted him for
dismissal.

While Bederman said he will not likely attend the Feb. 24 court date because
he has to teach, Altmann is flying from California to Washington, D.C., to
attend the proceedings.

AltmannÇs lawyer and longtime family friend, E. Randol Schoenberg, said
Altmann will turn 88 on Feb. 17, one week before the trial date.

Schoenberg said Altmann will probably hold off on her birthday celebration
until after the Supreme Court decides whether American courtÇs have the
jurisdiction to return her the $100-million paintings.
 

ORF 23.2.2004
Klimt-Bilder: Zuständigkeitsstreit vor US-Höchstgericht

  Das US-Höchstgericht befasst sich am Mittwoch in einer Anhörung mit dem
Rechtsstreit um sechs wertvolle Klimt-Bilder, in dem die Zuständigkeit der
US-Gerichte strittig ist. Im Verfahren fordert Klägerin Maria Altmann, eine
Nichte von Adele Bloch-Bauer, die Herausgabe der Bilder von der Republik
Österreich.

Das Verfahren ist damit im Streit über die Zuständigkeit in der höchsten
US-Instanz angelangt. Altmann hatte im August 2000 vor einem Gericht in Los
Angeles ihre Klage gegen die Republik Österreich eingebracht. Ihr Anwalt
Randol Schoenberg argumentiert, dass die Zuständigkeit der US-Gerichte für
den Fall gegeben ist, die beklagte Republik Österreich bestreitet das.

Keine inhaltliche Prüfung

Bei der mündlichen Anhörung haben die neun Richter rund eine Stunde lang
Gelegenheit, an die Anwälte beider Parteien Fragen zu stellen. Dabei wird es
primär um die Rechtsgrundlage für die Zuständigkeit der US-Gerichtsbarkeit
gehen, nicht um eine inhaltliche Prüfung der Klage. Die Entscheidung des
Höchstgerichts wird vermutlich erst in zwei bis drei Monaten veröffentlicht
werden.

Komplizierte Besitzfrage

In dem Prozess geht es um Rückgabeansprüche von sechs Bildern von Gustav
Klimt. In ihrem Testament bat die Besitzerin Adele Bloch-Bauer ihren Mann,
die Bilder nach seinem Tod der Republik Österreich bzw. der Österreichischen
Galerie zu schenken.

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer wurde aber in der NS-Zeit enteignet, die Bilder wurden
von den Nazis an das Museum übergeben bzw. verkauft. Bloch-Bauer hatte in
seinem Testament seinen Neffen und seine zwei Nichten als Alleinerben
eingesetzt.