Art Institute of Chicago

In 1996, heirs to Jewish art collectors Louise and [[Friedrich Gutmann]], who died in Nazi concentration camps, sued museum trustee [[Daniel C. Searle|Daniel Searle]] for the return of the Edgar Degas painting, ''Landscape with Smokestacks,'' which had been on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago''.''<ref>{{cite news |date=July 18, 1996 |title=Collector Sued Over Nazi Victims' Art |first=Jo Ann |last=Lewis |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/07/19/collector-sued-over-nazi-victims-art/aa497d49-f8c3-4ce6-99a9-cc82847760b3/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Family Sues Collector, Says Degas Work Stolen by Nazis |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/03/24/family-sues-collector-says-degas-work-stolen-by-nazis/ |date=March 24, 1997 |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> After years of litigation a settlement was concluded which involved the acquisition of the painting by the Art Institute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dobrzynski |first=Judith H. |date=August 14, 1998 |title=Settlement in Dispute Over a Painting Looted by Nazis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/14/us/settlement-in-dispute-over-a-painting-looted-by-nazis.html |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Landscape with Smokestacks – Friedrich Gutmann Heirs and Daniel Searle |url=https://plone.unige.ch/art-adr/cases-affaires/landscape-with-smokestacks-2013-friedrich-gutmann-heirs-and-daniel-searle |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=ArThemis |quote=The heirs of Holocaust victims Friedrich and Louise Gutmann, Nick and Simon Goodman and Lili Gutmann, filed a claim against the art dealer Daniel Searle. Searle was the owner of the painting "Landscape with Smokestacks" by Edgar Degas and was a Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, where the painting was on loan. The painting was allegedly looted by the Nazis during the Second World War. After four years of litigation, the parties agreed to share the ownership of the painting. The Gutmann heirs' interest in the ownership was bought by the Art Institute of Chicago.}}</ref> A collection of approximately 500 objects from [[Nepal]], India and elsewhere in Asia that was donated to the Art Institute by trustee [[Marilynn Alsdorf]] in 1989; certain objects from this collection have been contested.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cherney |first=Elyssa |title=She was the queen of Chicago's arts community. But her collection now means trouble for the Art Institute |date=March 20, 2023 |url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arts-entertainment/art-institute-chicago-nepal-looted-art-concerns |newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Elyssa |last1=Cherney |first2=Steve |last2=Mills |date=March 20, 2023 |title=Questions Shadow These Items From a Renowned Art Collection |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-art-institute-alsdorf-repatriation-origins |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=ProPublica |language=en |quote=Crain's Chicago Business and ProPublica have identified at least nine objects once owned by James and Marilynn Alsdorf that have been sent back to their countries of origin since the late 1980s. Nepali activists — and government officials, in one case — are pressing for the return of more Alsdorf objects donated to the Art Institute of Chicago, saying they have evidence the pieces may have been looted and sold on the art market.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-03-22 |title=Investigation raises concerns over Art Institute's Nepal items |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-nepal-looted-antiquities-aic-20230322-4y4vueyjxrebrk5v7f5lanyelu-story.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

In 1996, heirs to Jewish art collectors Louise and [[Friedrich Gutmann]], who died in Nazi concentration camps, sued museum trustee [[Daniel C. Searle|Daniel Searle]] for the return of the Edgar Degas painting, ''Landscape with Smokestacks,'' which had been on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago''.''<ref>{{cite news |date=July 18, 1996 |title=Collector Sued Over Nazi Victims' Art |first=Jo Ann |last=Lewis |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/07/19/collector-sued-over-nazi-victims-art/aa497d49-f8c3-4ce6-99a9-cc82847760b3/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Family Sues Collector, Says Degas Work Stolen by Nazis |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/03/24/family-sues-collector-says-degas-work-stolen-by-nazis/ |date=March 24, 1997 |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> After years of litigation a settlement was concluded which involved the acquisition of the painting by the Art Institute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dobrzynski |first=Judith H. |date=August 14, 1998 |title=Settlement in Dispute Over a Painting Looted by Nazis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/14/us/settlement-in-dispute-over-a-painting-looted-by-nazis.html |access-date=2024-03-09 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Landscape with Smokestacks – Friedrich Gutmann Heirs and Daniel Searle |url=https://plone.unige.ch/art-adr/cases-affaires/landscape-with-smokestacks-2013-friedrich-gutmann-heirs-and-daniel-searle |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=ArThemis |quote=The heirs of Holocaust victims Friedrich and Louise Gutmann, Nick and Simon Goodman and Lili Gutmann, filed a claim against the art dealer Daniel Searle. Searle was the owner of the painting "Landscape with Smokestacks" by Edgar Degas and was a Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, where the painting was on loan. The painting was allegedly looted by the Nazis during the Second World War. After four years of litigation, the parties agreed to share the ownership of the painting. The Gutmann heirs' interest in the ownership was bought by the Art Institute of Chicago.}}</ref> A collection of approximately 500 objects from [[Nepal]], India and elsewhere in Asia that was donated to the Art Institute by trustee [[Marilynn Alsdorf]] in 1989; certain objects from this collection have been contested.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cherney |first=Elyssa |title=She was the queen of Chicago's arts community. But her collection now means trouble for the Art Institute |date=March 20, 2023 |url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arts-entertainment/art-institute-chicago-nepal-looted-art-concerns |newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Elyssa |last1=Cherney |first2=Steve |last2=Mills |date=March 20, 2023 |title=Questions Shadow These Items From a Renowned Art Collection |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-art-institute-alsdorf-repatriation-origins |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=ProPublica |language=en |quote=Crain's Chicago Business and ProPublica have identified at least nine objects once owned by James and Marilynn Alsdorf that have been sent back to their countries of origin since the late 1980s. Nepali activists — and government officials, in one case — are pressing for the return of more Alsdorf objects donated to the Art Institute of Chicago, saying they have evidence the pieces may have been looted and sold on the art market.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-03-22 |title=Investigation raises concerns over Art Institute's Nepal items |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-nepal-looted-antiquities-aic-20230322-4y4vueyjxrebrk5v7f5lanyelu-story.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

In 2000, the Art Institute reached a settlement agreement with the heirs of [[Federico Gentili Di Giuseppe]] concerning a restitution claim for a 17th century sculpture by [[Francesco Mochi]] sculpture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago&#039;s Art Institute settles dispute – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/06/13/Chicagos-Art-Institute-settles-dispute/6520960868800/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> In 2001, the heirs of Holocaust victim [[Max Silberberg]] reached a settlement agreement concerning Gustav Courbet's ''The Rock in Hautepierre.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)-Case Summary-Silberberg Heir's Settlement with Art Institute of Chicago |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131035936/https://www.ifar.org/case_summary.php?docid=1408489070 |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> The Art Institute had acquired the Courbet from the dealer Paul Rosenberg in 1967.<ref>{{Citation |last=Courbet |first=Gustave |title=The Rock of Hautepierre |date=1864–1874 |url=https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27027/the-rock-of-hautepierre |access-date=2025-01-31}}</ref> In 2023, the [[Manhattan District Attorney]]'s Office moved to seize [[Egon Schiele]] paintings from several museums on the grounds that they had been looted by the Nazis from [[Fritz Grünbaum]], who was killed in the [[Holocaust]]. The paintings included, ''Russian War Prisoner,'' a watercolor in the Art Institute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ho |first=Karen K. |date=2023-09-14 |title=US Investigators Move to Seize Three Egon Schiele Works from Museums on Claims From Jewish Heirs of Stolen Property |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/us-investigators-seize-three-egon-schiele-museums-jewish-heirs-stolen-property-claims-1234679610/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |magazine=[[ARTnews]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-09-14 |title=Egon Schiele art seized in US over Holocaust claim |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66815694 |access-date=2023-11-07}}</ref> The Art Institute continues to hold the work, as it is contesting the seizure in court. According to its investigation, it acquired the watercolor drawing in 1966 from an American art dealer through a proper provenance from Grünbaum's legal heir, and it also argues that the claim is time-barred because Grünbaum's heirs were aware.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohan |first=William D. |date=2023-11-06 |title=Were These Artworks Looted? After Seizures and Lawsuits, Some Still Debate |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/arts/design/egon-schiele-art-lawsuits-looted.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sheppard |first=Carrie |date=2024-01-17 |title=Art Institute fights to hold on to disputed Egon Schiele artwork |website=[[Axios (website)|Axios]] |url=https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/01/17/art-institute-holocaust-painting-franz-friedrich-grunbaum |access-date=2024-02-01}}</ref> In February 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney filed a motion accusing the Art Institute of "blatantly ignoring evidence of an elaborate fraud undertaken to conceal that the artwork had been looted". According to ''The New York Times'', the court filing provided detailed evidence that provenance documents provided by the Swiss art dealer [[Eberhard W. Kornfeld]] contained forged signatures or were altered long after he came into possession of the paintings and sold them to other art dealers in the mid-1950s; however, the Art Institute disputed this claim. Court hearings on the matter took place in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mashberg |first1=Tom |last2=Bowley |first2=Graham |date=2024-02-23 |title=Investigators Say Chicago's Art Institute Is Holding onto 'Looted Art' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/investigators-say-chicagos-art-institute-is-holding-onto-looted-art.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2000, the Art Institute reached a settlement agreement with the heirs of [[Federico Gentili Di Giuseppe]] concerning a restitution claim for a 17th century sculpture by [[Francesco Mochi]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago&#039;s Art Institute settles dispute – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/06/13/Chicagos-Art-Institute-settles-dispute/6520960868800/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> In 2001, the heirs of Holocaust victim [[Max Silberberg]] reached a settlement agreement concerning Gustav Courbet's ''The Rock in Hautepierre.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)-Case Summary-Silberberg Heir's Settlement with Art Institute of Chicago |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131035936/https://www.ifar.org/case_summary.php?docid=1408489070 |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> The Art Institute had acquired the Courbet from the dealer Paul Rosenberg in 1967.<ref>{{Citation |last=Courbet |first=Gustave |title=The Rock of Hautepierre |date=1864–1874 |url=https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27027/the-rock-of-hautepierre |access-date=2025-01-31}}</ref> In 2023, the [[Manhattan District Attorney]]'s Office moved to seize [[Egon Schiele]] paintings from several museums on the grounds that they had been looted by the Nazis from [[Fritz Grünbaum]], who was killed in the [[Holocaust]]. The paintings included, ''Russian War Prisoner,'' a watercolor in the Art Institute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ho |first=Karen K. |date=2023-09-14 |title=US Investigators Move to Seize Three Egon Schiele Works from Museums on Claims From Jewish Heirs of Stolen Property |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/us-investigators-seize-three-egon-schiele-museums-jewish-heirs-stolen-property-claims-1234679610/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |magazine=[[ARTnews]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2023-09-14 |title=Egon Schiele art seized in US over Holocaust claim |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66815694 |access-date=2023-11-07}}</ref> The Art Institute continues to hold the work, as it is contesting the seizure in court. According to its investigation, it acquired the watercolor drawing in 1966 from an American art dealer through a proper provenance from Grünbaum's legal heir, and it also argues that the claim is time-barred because Grünbaum's heirs were aware.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohan |first=William D. |date=2023-11-06 |title=Were These Artworks Looted? After Seizures and Lawsuits, Some Still Debate |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/arts/design/egon-schiele-art-lawsuits-looted.html |access-date=2023-11-07 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sheppard |first=Carrie |date=2024-01-17 |title=Art Institute fights to hold on to disputed Egon Schiele artwork |website=[[Axios (website)|Axios]] |url=https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/01/17/art-institute-holocaust-painting-franz-friedrich-grunbaum |access-date=2024-02-01}}</ref> In February 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney filed a motion accusing the Art Institute of "blatantly ignoring evidence of an elaborate fraud undertaken to conceal that the artwork had been looted". According to ''The New York Times'', the court filing provided detailed evidence that provenance documents provided by the Swiss art dealer [[Eberhard W. Kornfeld]] contained forged signatures or were altered long after he came into possession of the paintings and sold them to other art dealers in the mid-1950s; however, the Art Institute disputed this claim. Court hearings on the matter took place in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mashberg |first1=Tom |last2=Bowley |first2=Graham |date=2024-02-23 |title=Investigators Say Chicago's Art Institute Is Holding onto 'Looted Art' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/investigators-say-chicagos-art-institute-is-holding-onto-looted-art.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Provenance research and returns ==

== Provenance research and returns ==