After years of deadlock, the German state of Bavaria is prepared to bow to the new German Arbitration Tribunal for Looted Art in the dispute over the return of the Picasso painting "Madame Soler" to the heirs of a Jewish art collector.
The heirs of Jewish art collector Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy had demanded the restitution of the 1905 painting "Madame Soler" by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in 2009, but Bavaria's State Painting Collections rejected this on the grounds that their own provenance research had come to the conclusion that it was not looted art.
The New York art dealer Justin K Thannhauser, from whom Bavaria bought the painting in 1964, had acquired it from Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in August 1935 at the latest - and the reason for the sale at that time was not the persecution of the family, according to the museum.
"It is clear to me that we will present Picasso's 'Madame Soler' as soon as the arbitration tribunal is in place," Bavarian Art Minister Markus Blume told dpa in Munich on Thursday. "Replacing the advisory commission with legally binding arbitration is the basis for us to take this step."
Bavaria will no longer have the choice in future because on Wednesday, the federal government, federal states and municipal umbrella organizations agreed on a reform of the procedure for the restitution of Nazi-looted property to its rightful owners.
In contrast to the current regulation, the new arbitration tribunal should also be able to be called upon unilaterally.
Because this was not the case until now and both parties always had to agree before the competent, independent adviser could take action, the Bavarian State Painting Collections were able to adopt a blockade stance in the dispute with the heirs of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy over the painting.
This prevented the state from appealing to the commission and making a recommendation in the dispute.
Blume now spoke of legally secure procedural rules and a differentiated assessment framework in the future. This would be the basis for "fair arbitration proceedings."