Nazi-Looted Art and the Law

The book begins with a general overview of the legal and jurisprudential problems in the area, followed by a series of US case studies of the key adjudicated disputes in which, in varying configurations, these problems have arisen. In comparison to the conventional discursive approach typical of legal monographs, the case-study format allows for a more detailed and nuanced treatment - and, in the author's view, one more interesting to readers in multiple disciplines - of the interrelated issues in the litigation.Since the late 1990s, US courts have seen a stream of claims to recover artwork seized by the Nazis before and during the Second World War. This litigation is likely to continue for some time, as many experts estimate that roughly 100,000 such stolen works of art have not yet been located. The purpose of this book is to examine the legal aspects of these claims, which typically confront courts and litigants with a host of complex procedural, jurisdictional, and substantive issues. (Unlike many European countries, the US has not enacted legislation or established a special commission to process such claims.) While there is no shortage of books about the Nazi program of art confiscation and the recent controversies over restitution, including some excellent journalistic accounts of courtroom battles over famous paintings, there are no books devoted specifically to the legal issues presented by restitution litigation and their treatment by the judiciary. This book fills that gap. Though its focus is on American courts, the cases in question are almost invariably international in character and involve the laws of both the US and European countries, making it of considerable interest to an international audience.

Cartea incepe cu o imagine de ansamblu generala a problemelor juridice si jurisprudentiale din zona, urmata de o serie de studii de caz din SUA cu privire la principalele litigii judecate in care, in configuratii diferite, au aparut aceste probleme. In comparatie cu abordarea discursiva conventionala tipica monografiilor juridice, formatul studiului de caz permite un tratament mai detaliat si mai nuantat - si, in opinia autorului, unul mai interesant pentru cititorii din mai multe discipline - a problemelor interdependente din litigiu. De la sfarsitul anilor 1990, instantele americane au vazut un flux de cereri de recuperare a lucrarilor de arta confiscate de nazisti inainte si in timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial.