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April 15, 2008

Baroness appeals her loss in Nazi-era art claim

PROVIDENCE — A German baroness living in Providence is appealing a court decision forcing her to give a portrait auctioned by the Nazis to the estate of a late Jewish art dealer.

An attorney for Maria-Luise Bissonnette filed the arguments Monday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

Among other points, Bissonnette’s attorney says the estate of Max Stern may have waited too long before seeking the return of the oil painting “Girl from the Sabine Mountains.”

Germany’s Nazi government forced Stern to liquidate his family’s Dusseldorf art gallery in 1937 because Stern was Jewish. Bissonnette’s stepfather, a low-ranking Nazi, bought the painting at auction.

Stern’s estate located the painting when Bissonnette tried to auction it three years ago. It won the lawsuit in December.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 9:04 AM | Permalink

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