Norton Simon "Adam and Eve" Head Back to the Courtroom
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve , about 1530. Norton Simon Museum A new lawsuit seeks return of Lucas Cranach the Elder's Adam and Eve diptych from the Norton Simon Museum. Though the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court ruled in the museum's favor in 2018, new California and Federal laws are more favorable to claimants of Holocaust-era loot. Both sides in the new suit agree that Hermann Göeing seized Adam and Eve from Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker's holdings. Beyond that, the story is complicated, involving a rival claim for restitution (likely fraudulent) and the fact that the Goudstikker heirs did not accept an earlier restitution deal from the Dutch government. The new suit is being brought by the Jewish Federation-Council of Greater Los Angeles, which acquired the right to sue from Goudstikker heir Marei von Saher. The NSM insists that its title is valid and that "we will continue to make these important artworks accessible to the public."
