Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum may keep Pissarro Painting looted by Nazis

The 3-0 decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, came in one of the oldest Nazi art theft cases, which began in 2005 and reached the US Supreme Court two years ago.

Pissarro's "Rue Saint Honore, apres midi, effet de pluie" ("Rue Saint Honore, Afternoon, Rain Effect"), depicting a Paris street scene, was stolen in 1939 from Lilly Neubauer, who was forced to sell it for 900 Reichsmarks (S$479) to obtain a visa and flee Nazi Germany. She was never paid.

Ownership passed through several hands until 1993, when the Thyssen bought the 1897 painting from Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and put it on display, where it remains. After learning where the painting was, Neubauer's grandson, Claude Cassirer, petitioned for its return in 2001, and sued four years later.

He died in 2010, and his son David, his daughter Ava's estate and the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County now handle the case. He said that justified applying Spanish law rather than California law, entitling the Thyssen to the painting because it had in good faith owned and displayed it for eight years before its ownership was questioned.

In a concurrence, Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan said Spain should have voluntarily relinquished the painting, reflecting its commitment to returning Nazi-looted art to victims, but the law compelled a different outcome.