File photo of David Cassirer, the great-grandson of Lilly Cassirer, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Jan. 18, 2022. Lilly Cassirer surrendered her family's priceless Camille Pissarro painting to the Nazis in exchange for safe passage out of Germany during the Holocaust.
Lower courts had concluded Spanish property law should ultimately govern the case and that under Spanish law, the museum was the rightful owner of the painting the family believed for over half a century had been lost or destroyed. If the Supreme Court had upheld that ruling, the case would have been over. Instead, the justicesThe museum and Cassirer could also come to some agreement rather than continue to fight in court.
Lawyers for the museum did not immediately respond to messages seeking their reaction to the decision. The painting changed hands a number of times after that. It is now in the collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, which has fought to retain it. It has been said to be worth more than $30 million.
In 2000, Lilly Cassirer's grandson Claude Cassirer learned the painting's whereabouts. Spain rejected his attempts to get it back, however, and he ultimately sued in his home state of California in 2005. Claude Cassirer died in 2010. It’s his son David now fighting for the piece’s return.