The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena has filed a new lawsuit asserting ownership of Adam and Eve, a 16th-century diptych by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The case, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, responds to a claim seeking the painting's return.
The Jewish Federation-Council of Greater Los Angeles and its board chair, Daniel Gryczman, brought the latest restitution claim. Marei von Saher, heir to Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, transferred her rights to the federation. Goudstikker owned the work before the Second World War.
A long-running ownership dispute
The museum says a court ruled in its favour in 2016, following 12 years of litigation, and the US Supreme Court declined to reopen the case. The renewed claim comes after amendments to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, which limit the use of certain legal defences in restitution disputes.
The painting's ownership history spans several decades. Goudstikker acquired it in 1931. After the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, the work was taken from his gallery and later recovered by Allied forces before being returned to the Dutch government. In 1966, an heir to the Stroganoff family, which had previously owned the painting, was permitted to purchase it. The heir later sold it to the Norton Simon Art Foundation for $800,000.
Von Saher began seeking the Cranach in 1998 and sued the museum in 2007. Those claims were rejected. The museum says the painting has remained on public display since it entered the foundation's collection.
The new case may test how updated restitution laws shape the resolution of contested artworks and the public's access to cultural heritage.
