US Court Rules Spanish Museum Can Keep Nazi-Looted Painting

The family of the original Jewish owner, who was forced to sell the painting to the Nazis in 1939, plans to challenge the ruling.

A US court has ruled that Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum can keep a painting by Camille Pissarro that was looted by the Nazis from a Jewish family during World War II.
The painting, 'Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon. Effect of Rain,' was forced to be sold by Jewish art collector Lilly Neubauer in 1939 to the Nazis in exchange for an exit visa from Germany.
The painting ended up in the Spanish museum after changing hands multiple times, and the museum has argued that it had no knowledge of the painting's looted status when it was acquired.
The family of Lilly Neubauer, led by her great-grandson David Cassirer, has been engaged in a legal battle since 2005 to reclaim the painting, which is now estimated to be worth around $30 million.
The court's decision was based on the application of Spanish law, which allows for 'prescriptive title' to the painting after a period of uninterrupted possession. The family plans to challenge the ruling.