News

Release: London, 01 May 2014
Art Recovery International and New York University Announce Second Annual Art Crime Conference

Art Recovery International and New York University, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, are pleased to announce the second annual Art Crime Conference, New York City, 4-6 June 2014.

Following last year's successful launch at New York University Bedford Square, London, the 2014 conference will take place at NYU School of Law, New York City.

The three-day symposium will once again set the standard for the global discussion on art and cultural heritage crime as industry leaders debate the issues affecting the international art market and cultural heritage industries in 2014.

This year's conference will see specialists drawn from law enforcement agencies, legal practices, museums, art galleries and auction houses, gather in New York alongside prominent authors and academics to debate and discuss the three primary areas of concern for the US market: Art Theft; Looted Cultural Property; and Fakes, Forgeries and Fraud.

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For Immediate Release: 21 March 2014
Henri Matisse's Profil bleu devant la cheminée (Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace) dated 1937, to be returned to art dealer Paul Rosenberg's heirs.

In June of 2012, the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) was contacted by the heirs of Paul Rosenberg. The heirs presented documentation demonstrating that Henri Matisse's painting Profil bleu devant la cheminée (Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace) dated 1937, was unlawfully dispossessed as a result of Nazi persecution from the famed French gallery owner and collector. Although Mr Rosenberg was able to flee to New York with his family in 1940, artworks belonging to him were confiscated by the special Nazi looting agency known as the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). This painting was one of 162 works looted on September 5, 1941, and was therefore subject to an active claim of restitution by the Rosenberg heirs...

Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer specializing in the restitution of cultural property, who handled the negotiations for the Rosenberg family, commented: "This case illustrates the importance of Museums and cultural institutions undertaking comprehensive reviews of their collections in accordance with the Washington Conference Principles. The HOK is to be commended for their methodological approach in reviewing the provenance documentation we presented as well as the legal issues involved. Ultimately, it was the strength of the moral claim that persuaded the HOK to restitute this painting unconditionally to the Rosenberg heirs. We are grateful to our researchers in France and the United States whose expertise and assistance in this matter were invaluable."

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