The descendants of a Jewish art collector have filed a lawsuit seeking the return of Wassily Kandinsky’s Painting with Houses (Bild mit Häusern, 1909) from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The city owned museum purchased the painting at auction in Amsterdam in October 1940. The work found its way to the block under mysterious circumstances, leading the heirs to believe that the sale was involuntarily made under duress from occupying Nazi forces. In 2018, the Netherlands’ Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications investigated the case and found that the Stedelijk was not obligated to return the painting. The new lawsuit disputes that opinion, which is binding. “It has recently become clear that the restitution committee was biased, as four of the seven members have close professional and personal ties with the Stedelijk Museum,” according to a written statement from the Mondex Corporation, which is representing the claimants. The lawsuit claims that the committee’s recommendation violates the restitution guidelines set forth by the country’s Ekkart Committee, which holds “that sales of works of art by Jewish private persons in the Netherlands from 10 May 1940 onwards be treated as forced sales, unless there is express evidence to the contrary.” The restitution committee admitted … Meer lezen over Sarah Cascone – Descendants of Jewish Art Collector Are Suing Stedelijk Museum Over Kandinsky Work They Say Is Rightfully Theirs: The museum purchased the work at auction in 1940