On 3 April 2026, a New York court ordered the return of a $25 million Modigliani painting looted during the Nazi era, bringing to an end an 11-year legal battle between the heirs of a Jewish art dealer and the prominent Nahmad art dealing family. In Greason v. Nahmad (2026 NY Slip Op 50461), the […]
Category: Art law
US Congress passes revised HEAR Act removing to Nazi-looted art claims
For decades, restitution claims for Nazi-looted art have often failed not on substance, but on procedural defenses—laches, statutes of limitations, or even acquisitive prescription.The HEAR Act 2025 changes this fundamentally: these defenses are largely set aside, and claims are to be decided on their merits. The U.S. Congress has passed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery […]
Germany’s New Arbitration Court for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property: Key Procedural Features
On 1 December 2025, Germany’s institutional arbitration body for Nazi-looted art commenced operations, replacing the former Advisory Commission. For the first time, victims of National Socialist persecution and their legal successors have access to a formalised and legally binding procedure. Below are some of the key procedural features of the arbitration body for Nazi-looted art. […]
Robbed of Their “Oomph”: Ronald Perelman’s $410M Insurance Claim Over allegedly Fire-Damaged Artworks
Years after the fire in 2018, a prominent art collector and businessman Perelman claims that 5 artworks lost their spark, luster and depth and demands $410m for them. The insurance companies have argued that the works had “not sustained any detectable damages”. Allegations of Damage: Oomph or no oomph? At the heart of the dispute […]
Restitution of Nazi-looted art: New law aims to facilitate enforcement of claims
On April 17th, the German Federal Ministry of Justice proposed a bill to facilitate the enforcement of claims for the return of cultural property unjustly seized during the Nazi era. New provisions include information requests and rules regarding statutes of limitations. ©Rui Alves/Unsplah The proposed legislation seeks to streamline the process for reclaiming Nazi-confiscated cultural […]
Nearly 80 years after the end of National Germany to replace Nazi-loot advisory panel with binding arbitration
The Advisory Commission, formerly known as the Limbach Commission, dealing with the return of Nazi-looted art from Jewish owners, has been facing criticism for its inefficiency. Now, nearly 80 years after the end of National Socialism in Germany the federal government, states and local authorities agreed shaking things up by replacing it with an arbitration […]