DETROIT Jan. 22 (BNA): A judge has dismissed a lawsuit over control of an 1888 painting by Vincent Van Gogh, saying federal law prevents him from getting involved in a dispute between a Brazilian collector and a Detroit museum.
The painting of a woman holding a book titled “The Fictional Reader” is protected from forfeiture, and the Detroit Institute of Arts cannot be ordered to relinquish it, said U.S. District Judge George Cramsteh.
The painting was part of a months-long Van Gogh exhibition that ends on Sunday. The Associated Press reports that dozens of paintings by the Dutch master are on loan to the museum.
Lawyers for Brazilian collector Gustavo Suter filed a lawsuit last week, announcing that he bought the art in 2017 for $3.7 million but was unable to locate it after it was given to a third party.
Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC and Soter, its sole owner, asked a judge to order the museum to turn over the painting.
The museum has not publicly disclosed how it obtained the painting for the exhibition, saying only that it came from Brazil. But Stieh said the museum is “blameless”.
The museum said the painting was not listed as stolen by the FBI or the International Register of Art Loss.
The judge noted that federal law protects temporary sharing of international art or works of cultural interest, a defense put forward by the museum.
“Requiring an institution to bear the burden of ultimately proving in court that a foreign lender has a legal right to lend something before it can assert that the object is immune from seizure would be tortuous, would not further the stated purpose (law) and would likely be counterproductive.” Scary on cultural exchanges.”