French Woman Sues Oklahoma University Over Stolen Painting
- January 19, 2014 22:08
A Nazi-looted painting by Camille Pissarro is at the center of a lawsuit brought against Oklahoma University by a French woman.
Pissarro's "Shepherdess Bringing In Sheep" is an 1886 work now on display at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at Oklahoma University.
According to claims, it was stolen during the Nazi occupation of France from Jewish buisnessman Raoul Meyer, whose daughter is trying to recover the work.
Leone Meyer is suing OU for its return, but so far the university has refused to relinquish the painting which was a gift from oilman Aaron Weitzenhoffer and his wife, Clara. The couple dontated a trove of 33 important French Impressionist works to the museum. They reportedly did not know the Pissarro was stolen.
After the World War II, Raoul Meyer had tried to recover his art collection. He sued Swiss art dealer Christoph Bernoulli who had acquired the Pissarro, but his suit was rejected by a Swiss judge who ruled that the 5-year window on such claims had passed.
