Detail from The Virtuous Girl by Pietro Antonio Rotari, one of 202 works restored to the heirs of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker by the government of the Netherlands. Source: art.claimscon.org.

Report slams U.S. museums’ handling of Holocaust-era restitution claims, JTA,  25 June 2015

United States art museums are using “procedural defenses” and a “hostile approach” to renege on their responsibility to return Nazi-looted art to its owners and heirs, says new report.

Singling out several prominent museums for criticism, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the report, issued by the World Jewish Restitution Organization Thursday, castigates major U.S. museums for “refusing to resolve claims on their facts and merits and by asserting technical defenses, such as statutes of limitations.”

The report accuses U.S. museums of failing to “live up to the spirit of” the Washington Conference Principles and Terezin Declaration, international statements regarding Holocaust-era art restitution, along with the Guidelines of the American Alliance of Museums.

It also criticizes the AAM for having “failed to uphold and enforce” its own standards and calls on the group to withhold accreditation for museums that do not comply with its Holocaust-restitution guidelines. In addition, the report recommends legislation to “extend” statutes of limitation on Holocaust-era restitution claims.

The report contrasts American museums’ “hostile approach” to the manner in which several European countries are resolving Nazi-looted art claims

“Museums are central to a civilized society,” said Gideon Taylor, WJRO chair of operations in a news release issued by the organization. “The American museum community, while understandably an advocate for artwork to remain in public hands, must follow through on its prior commitments not to taint collections with art stolen during the Holocaust.”