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SA family sues Liz Taylor
14/10/2004 13:49 - (SA)
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Los Angeles - Four descendants of a German woman whose possessions were confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s have sued actress Elizabeth Taylor to recover a valuable Vincent van Gogh painting.
Taylor failed to review the ownership history of View of the Asylum of Saint-Remy before acquiring it more than 40 years ago, according to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
The descendants of the late Margarete Mauthner are seeking restitution and the painting, which has been appraised between $10m to $15m.
The plaintiffs are Andrew J Orkin of Canada and three residents of South Africa, F Mark Orkin, Sarah-Rose Josepha Adler and A Heinrich Zille.
Andrew Orkin said in a phone interview that he, F Mark Orkin and Adler are the great-grandchildren of Mauthner, who died in 1947 in South Africa at age 84.
"We want the painting back right now. It's a Nazi-confiscated asset and we're entitled to have the painting returned to us," Thomas Hamilton, the plaintiffs' attorney, said in a phone interview from Washington, DC.
Publications show Mauthner owned the painting
Phone calls to lawyers for Taylor were not immediately returned.
The lawsuit followed one Taylor filed in May requesting to be declared the rightful owner of the painting, which had hung in the living room of her Bel-Air estate.
In 1963, Taylor's father, Francis Taylor, bought the painting on his daughter's behalf for $257 600 at a Sotheby's auction in London. At the time, it was owned by art collector Alfred Wolf.
The sales brochure warned that the painting was likely confiscated by the Nazis, according to the lawsuit.
At least three publications used by art dealers showed that Mauthner owned the painting, Hamilton said, adding that the Holocaust Victims Redress Act mandates that seized artwork be returned to victims of Nazi persecution.
In a statement after her lawsuit was filed, Taylor said, "I have not been presented with any information that suggests the painting was ever in Nazi possession, nor that there is any other basis for these claims."
- AP
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