Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from descendants of famed composer Felix Mendelssohn who want German officials to return a Pablo Picasso painting that was subject to forced transfer under the Nazi regime.
The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that said the German state of Bavaria was entitled to sovereign immunity in a lawsuit over rights to "Madame Soler," valued at about $100 million.
The painting was sold under duress in 1934 by Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Justin Thannhauser, a German art dealer who later moved to New York. Thannhauser later sold the painting to Bavarian officials. It is now on display in a Munich museum.
Lower courts ruled that Bavaria was immune even though the painting was sold in the United States.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
