Thought this would be of interest to the list: ************************** Court Rules on Museum Art's Return By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that the Museum of Modern Art can return two paintings to Austria despite allegations that they had been stolen by the Nazis from their Jewish owners. In a 6-1 ruling, the Court of Appeals threw out a grand jury subpoena ordering the museum not to send Expressionist artist Egon Schiele's ``Dead City III'' and ``Portrait of Wally'' back to the Leopold Foundation in Vienna. The subpoena, obtained by Manhattan's district attorney, had drawn protests that it could have a chilling effect on the international lending of art works between museums. The two paintings were among more than 100 loaned to MOMA by the Leopold Foundation. Three days after MOMA's exhibit ended in 1998, Henry Bondi of Princeton, N.J., Kathleen Rief of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Rita Rief of New York City filed claims saying the paintings had been taken from their relatives when Germany annexed Austria in 1938. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau then subpoenaed the two works, requiring that they be kept in the United States while his office investigated the claims. MOMA argued that it was contractually obligated to return the paintings. The museum also argued that state law bars any interference -- by anyone for any reason -- with art loaned to New York institutions by foreign entities. Prosecutors maintained that the law historically applied only to civil proceedings, not criminal inquiries. However, the appeals court ruled Tuesday that the state law makes no exception for criminal investigations. MOMA officials -- while supporting efforts to recover misappropriated art -- welcomed the ruling, saying that if they had surrendered the paintings it would have discouraged other foreign institutions from lending works of art to museums in the United States. ``This is a victory for all the people and museums of our state because it means that New York will continue to be the cultural center of our world,'' MOMA said in a statement. The Leopold's board of directors had called the subpoena ``a heavy blow against international art exchange and international lending.'' AP-NY-09-21-99 1637EDT Copyright © Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Home | Top of Page ***************************** usual disclaimers Barry G. Szczesny, Esq. Government Affairs Counsel and Assistant Director Government and Public Affairs American Association of Museums 1575 Eye Street, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 202/289-9125 Phone 202/289-6578 Fax [log in to unmask] E-mail http://www.aam-us.org Website ========================================================Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).