A legal tug-of-war over a painting is heating up in federal court, where a Brazilian art collector is trying to force the Detroit Institute of Arts to turn over a painting he claims was stolen before it ends up on the museum’s wall has.
The DIA maintains the painting was never reported stolen, arguing it is immune from seizure under a federal law — though the art collector’s attorney says the DIA is “misleading” about that law and should turn the painting over.
“(The collector) paid $3.7 million for the painting and would like it back,” attorney Aaron Phelps wrote in a court filing Wednesday.
The filing came on the eve of a Thursday court hearing, during which U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh will hear both sides argue the fate of a Van Gogh painting known as “The Novel Reader,” which is part of the DIA’s popular “From”. Gogh in America” exhibition.
DIA says it is exempt from being told what to do with the Van Gogh
The 1888 oil painting hung on the DIA’s walls for weeks before becoming the subject of national and international intrigue on January 10, when Brazilian art collector Gustovo Soter sued the DIA, claiming to be the true owner of the painting. that it was stolen. before it arrived in Detroit and that he had been looking for it for almost six years.
Soter claims in his lawsuit that he bought the painting in 2017, gave it to a third party, who then reportedly fled with the artwork. The suit claims Soter has the title but hasn’t seen the painting since — not learning where it is until his lawyers saw it in the Detroit museum. He is now trying to get the painting back before the DIA exhibit ends Sunday, and has asked the judge to order the DIA to return it to him, though he is not accusing the DIA of wrongdoing.
But the DIA wants the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the judge can’t tell the museum what to do with the painting because it says the artwork is protected by the 1965 Immunity from Seizure Act . That law protects foreign works of art and items of cultural interest from seizure while on display in the United States.
DIA lawyers argued that “The Novel Reader” was granted immunity by the State Department last summer under the nearly 60-year-old law, which they say is critical for museums that curate international exhibits.
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Judge Steeh has since ordered that the painting not be moved and will hold a hearing on the matter on Thursday morning. The painting also now has its own security guard, given all the hype and theft claims.
As for the DIA’s immunity argument, Soter’s attorney argues that the law does not apply in this case. Specifically, he maintains that the Immunity from Seizure Act prohibits non-owners from seizing works of art from owners.
“This case is just the opposite,” Phelps wrote in Wednesday’s filing. “(Soter) is the owner and seeks recovery of (his) own property.”
Moreover, Phelps argues, the immunity statute does not prohibit the judge “from returning to (Soter) what already belongs to (him).”
According to Soter’s lawsuit, his Florida-based company, Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC, has an “undisputed” bill of sale for the painting, which is also known as “Liseuse De Romans.” Soter says the Dutch Impressionist painting is now worth $5 million.
According to the DIA, a private collector in São Paulo, Brazil, lent the painting to the museum — though the name of that collector has not been released publicly or in court records.
DIA lawyers also dispute Soter’s theft claims, arguing that the painting has not been reported stolen or missing anywhere — not with the FBI’s National Stolen Art File, nor with the London-based Art Loss Register, which the world is the largest database of stolen art. .
The DIA’s “Van Gogh in America” exhibit, which opened Oct. 2, borrowed artworks from more than 50 museums and collections worldwide, including the iconic “Starry Night,” on loan from Paris’s Musée d’Orsay. To date, the exhibit has drawn more than 170,000 visitors to Detroit, and thousands more are expected before Saturday’s closing date.
Free Press reporter Duante Beddingfield contributed.
Tresa Baldas: [email protected]
