Court: Mass. museum owns painting sold in Nazi era

[October 16, 2010]  BOSTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court has found that Boston's Museum of Fine Arts can retain ownership of a 1913 painting that was sold during the Nazi occupation of Austria.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in a lawsuit the museum filed against Claudia Seger-Thomschitz. She claims the painting by Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka was sold under duress in 1939 by one of her ancestors, Jewish art collector Oskar Reichel.

The museum said its research showed the painting, called "Two Nudes (Lovers)," was sold voluntarily and was eventually donated to the museum in 1973.

The appeals court did not rule on the legality of the museum's acquisition of the painting, but said the three-year statute of limitations on Seger-Thomaschitz's claim had run out.

[Associated Press]

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