Yesterday, two plaintiffs filed a complaint against the German state of Bavaria seeking the return paintings allegedly stolen by the Nazis during the 1930s. The plaintiffs, heirs to the estate of a Jewish art dealer who fled Germany in 1933, allege that the paintings by Max Beckmann and Paul Klee among others are now in the possession of a state-operated museum in Bavaria. According to the complaint, Bavaria received evidence that the art dealer’s paintings were stolen when it uncovered a trove of 1,280 paintings hidden in the former apartment of Adolf Hitler’s art agent. The complaint seeks return of the paintings or comparable money damages.
The case is before Judge Sullivan.