lalate Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 (attorney - my former classmate):rock::rock::rock::Austria agrees to return five paintings stolen from a Jewish family by Nazis By The Associated Press VIENNA - Austria's culture minister agreed yesterday to abide by a court ruling and give up ownership of five precious Gustav Klimt paintings to a California woman who says the Nazis stole them from her Jewish family.But Maria Altmann, 89, insists the paintings should remain on public display and not in a private collection. She said she would not object to their remaining at the gallery provided restitution was made. Advertisement Austrian Culture Minister Elizabeth Gehrer said Austria would comply with the arbitration court's decision Monday that the country is obligated to give the paintings to Altmann under laws mandating the restitution of art objects to Holocaust victims.Altmann, a retired Beverly Hills clothing boutique operator, was one of the heirs of the family who owned the paintings before the Nazis took over Austria in 1938.Yesterday, Gehrer said her ministry was exploring ways to be able to keep at least two of the best-known pictures on display in Austria, but she ruled out buying them, saying there was no money for such a solution.Austria's decision to give up the artworks that have been displayed for decades in Vienna's ornate Belvedere castle represents the costliest concession since it began returning valuable art objects looted by the Nazis.The paintings' estimated worth is at least $150 million.But for Klimt lovers, at least one of the disputed paintings - the oil and gold-encrusted portrait "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" - is priceless. Stylistically similar to Klimt's world-renowned "The Kiss," the painting is replicated on T-shirts, cups and other souvenirs.Altmann is the niece of Bloch-Bauer, who died in 1925. The subject's family commissioned her famous portrait and owned it, along with the four other Klimt paintings disputed in the case.Gehrer alluded to estimates that the one portrait alone is worth at least $84.5 million in ruling out purchasing it.Altmann's attorney, E. Randol Schoenberg, said early yesterday that he expected the Austrian government would abide by the court ruling."I think it's finally been resolved," he said of his client's seven-year battle to get back the paintings. "It's been a really difficult process." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxylady69 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 noice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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