Detroit — The Detroit Institute of Arts cannot relinquish control of Vincent van Gogh’s multi-million dollar painting at the center of a federal lawsuit. This is because works of art are protected by federal laws that provide immunity for foreign works of art exhibited in the United States. A lawyer for the museum said Monday.
The painting “Liseuse De Romans” was granted immunity last summer by the U.S. State Department under a nearly 60-year-old law governing the importation of art and other foreign items of cultural significance into the United States. wrote the lawyer.
The claim is the latest development in the case of Van Gogh’s paintings, and Brazilian art collectors have made the case for the ongoing “Van Gogh in America” exhibition.
read more: Van Gogh Gone: Lawsuits Leading to DIA and International Art Hunt
Last week, collector Gustavo Sotelle sued the DIA in federal court to bring back the “Liceus de Romans,” also known as the “Reader of the Novel,” which attracted worldwide attention and attracted security guards to the museum. A new international conspiracy has been added to the previous case. Or “reading lady”. This painting is worth over $5 million.
A lawsuit by Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC, an art brokerage firm in Soter, concerns an international search for rare oil paintings by Dutch post-impressionist masters and a desperate attempt to retrieve the works before the exhibition leaves town on Sunday. I’m explaining.
A court filing Monday left one mystery untouched: The DIA did not specify who loaned the painting to the museum. It is written only that there is.
A federal judge blocked DIA officials from moving or hiding the painting ahead of Thursday’s court hearing. An order by George Callum Stee in the U.S. District Court prohibits DIA personnel from “damaging, destroying, concealing, destroying, moving,” or substantially devaluing any painting.
DIA attorney Andrew Powells said: “The upholding of this lawsuit threatens the ability of U.S. museums to host world-famous exhibitions such as Van Gogh, and threatens foreign lenders to sell works of art to U.S. institutions. It is likely to reduce the willingness to lend.” .
“Like other U.S. museums, DIA relies on financing from collectors, galleries and museums around the world to provide meaningful cultural and educational experiences for its visitors,” Pauwels added. I was. “These exchanges benefit society immeasurably.”
Soter said he bought the painting for $3.7 million in 2017. After paying for the work, he transferred his ownership to an unidentified third party, the lawsuit alleges.
Brokerarte attorney Aaron Phelps said, “This party fled with the painting, and the plaintiff did not know its whereabouts for years.” I do not know the whereabouts of
Then breakthrough.
“However, plaintiff recently learned that the painting is the property of DIA and is on display as part of the museum’s ‘Van Gogh in America’ exhibition,” the attorney wrote.
The DIA issued an emailed statement last week saying the museum follows best practices, including conducting proprietary searches from academic sources, the Art Loss Register, and the US Federal Register, before agreeing to international funding. said.
The DIA applied for a waiver to the State Department in May. The application, filed Monday, listed 27 works of art by her, including “Liseuse De Romans.”
“Incidentally, the DIA noted that it had received confirmation from the Art Loss Register that the painting was not registered as stolen or missing prior to filing the waiver application with the State Department,” the DIA attorney wrote. “DIA has also confirmed that this painting is not listed in the FBI’s National Stolen Art File.”
The painting has become increasingly popular at the DIA exhibition, which sold out last weekend.
The exhibition, which opens in October, celebrates DIA’s status as the first public art museum in the United States to purchase Van Gogh’s painting, a self-portrait created in 1887.
The exhibition, which runs through Sunday, includes 74 Van Gogh paintings and is considered one of the largest Van Gogh works in 21st-century America. Authentic Van Gogh works by Van Gogh are on loan from about 60 museums and collections around the world, including The Bedroom at the Art Institute of Chicago. The “Van Gogh Chair” at the National Gallery in London. “The Starry Night (Rhone Starry Night)” from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
“If a court violates the anti-seizure statute and orders the DIA to surrender ownership of the paintings to the plaintiff, or if the court maintains the order pending hearing, the DIA and other U.S. cultural institutions will suffer substantial damages. will suffer,” wrote a lawyer for the DIA. “This damage will affect not only museums, but society as a whole.”
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