Nazi-Looted Van Goyen Painting Returned to Heir in Netherlands
Law firm Freedman Normand Friedland LLP announced that the Dutch national art collection will return a Nazi-looted Jan van Goyen painting, Fishermen by the Lakeshore, to Jacques Goudstikker's heir, Marei von Saher.
The law firm Freedman Normand Friedland LLP (FNF) has secured another significant victory for its longtime client Marei von Saher, the sole heir of prominent Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. The Dutch national art collection has agreed to return Jan van Goyen's painting, "Fishermen by the Lakeshore," to Ms. von Saher, more than eighty years after it was looted by Hermann Göring, the Nazi regime's second-in-command.
The decision regarding the Van Goyen painting follows closely on the heels of FNF's success in Argentina just two weeks prior, where the firm facilitated the first restitution of a Nazi-looted painting in Argentinian history, also on behalf of Ms. von Saher.
In the Dutch proceedings, the Minister of Education, Culture and Science issued a decision to return the painting to Ms. von Saher. The Minister fully adopted the recommendation of the Netherlands' Restitutions Committee, which determined that Göring's seizure of the painting in June 1940 was part of the pattern of Nazi art theft, disguised under a veneer of legality. Over 1,300 works from Goudstikker's gallery were seized by the Nazis upon their invasion.
FNF's team has represented Ms. von Saher in multiple restitution cases, including the return of over 200 works in 2006 and three additional works in 2013. This Van Goyen painting marks the third Dutch restitution to the family under the Washington Principles.
"After more than eighty years, this painting is finally being restored to my family," said Marei von Saher. "I am deeply grateful to the Restitutions Committee for its diligence, to the Minister for following its advice, and to my legal team who have stood with our family every step of the way and never stopped fighting for what is rightfully ours."
The Argentinian recovery involved Giacomo Ceruti's "Portrait of a Lady," also looted by Göring and "sold" in 1944. FNF's attorneys continue to work on behalf of the von Saher family, who are still seeking hundreds of works from Jacques Goudstikker's collection.