Heirs of Dutch Jew allege bias over committee’s refusal to return painting

2 November 2020, 2:40 pm

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A Jewish family seeking the return of a painting acquired by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam during Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Netherlands is alleging bias by the country’s restitutions committee.

The heirs of Robert Lewenstein, who fled the Netherlands for France in 1940, are suing for the return of the €20 million ($23.3 million) “Painting with Houses” by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky. The painting was sold to the museum months after Lewenstein fled.

The restorations committee ruled in 2018 that the museum can keep the painting, claiming it was bought in good faith and that Lewenstein’s finances had already been deteriorating.

Lawyers for the Lewenstein heirs are now disputing those claims.

“Immediately after the invasion, the Germans started looting art. Pressure and coercion and the justified fear that lived among the Jews were used,” attorney Simon van der Sluijs is quoted saying by the Guardian.

The claimants also say four of the seven members of the restitutions committee have a conflict of interest, as they are members of the Stedelijk Museum’s businesses club or work at an office that sponsors the museum.

The Stedelijk Museum rejects the allegation of bias, saying none of the committee members have a financial stake in the museum or were ever employed by it.