25 years Later: Speaking about “The Washington Principles”
December 8, 2023
About this Event
What’s there to talk about?! A quarter century after the signing of the Washington Principles and 80 years after the London Conference which produced a public statement that taking of property by the Nazis will not be recognized by the art world once the World War 2 would come to an end, in 2023 the world is still dealing with Nazi-era looted art claims and disputes. While the leading art museums are engaging with experts to review provenance of art long in their care, courts and auction houses still grapple with restitution claims. Conflicts of law, statutes of limitation and loss of memory and evidence make outcomes of claims for recovery of art intentionally or opportunistically looted during World War 2, hinder our ability to find and reach fair and just solutions.
To mark this anniversary with an informal conversation and to acknowledge that fairness is not guaranteed in cases involving art claims, watch this event to hear from the Center’s in house expert: our Board of Advisors’ member Jen Kreder (author of amicus briefs and numerous articles about Nazi-era looted art cases), our Board of Director’s Peter Toren, plaintiff in the recently decided Toren v. The Fed. Republic of Germany. Moderated by Irina Tarsis, Founder of the Center for Art Law, let’s think whether the US still needs or ever needed a Commission to Resolve Nazi-era Looted Art Claims. We discussed the recent developments in cases citing the HEAR act and in trends that Nazi-era looted art cases are setting for 2024.
