Time for Justice on Nazi-Looted Art
Gideon Taylor, president of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, calls for Congress to pass the HEAR Act and for museums to ensure transparency about the provenance of artworks.
The Leffmanns’ Picasso
In 1938, Paul and Alice Leffmann, a Jewish couple from Germany, fled Nazi persecution. To safeguard a treasured Pablo Picasso painting, they entrusted it to a non-Jewish German acquaintance, hoping it would survive the war even if they did not.
To finance their escape to Brazil, they were forced to sell the painting, as many were compelled to under duress during that era.
The Actor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The painting, The Actor (1904), has hung in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1952.
In 2016, Laurel Zuckerman, an heir of the Leffmanns, filed a claim seeking the painting's return. However, the courts rejected her case.
"It is time for Congress to pass the new HEAR Act and for museums to deliver provenance transparency." — Gideon Taylor
Author's summary: Justice for Nazi-looted art remains urgent; museums and lawmakers must act now to ensure rightful restitution and transparency.