Do You Know What You Own?
As with many stories in this field, this one begins with the death of two spouses. On the death of the second spouse, Mrs. Irene Korhumel, the assets of her Estate were catalogued and included a landscape painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The painting had been bought at a New York gallery in 1956 and hung in the family home since. Art appraisers have indicated that an attempt at valuing such artwork is not possible without detailed research, but it would seem that it certainly has significant value. Ms. Korhumel’s Estate has taken steps to sell the painting at Auction.
This seems like a simple story, and one that Estates deal with every day. However, as with every good story, there has to be a catch, a turning point if you will, and in this instance, that turning point is a possible claim by the heirs of a previous owner of the painting, a textile mogul from Germany, whose heirs are contemplating a claim for ownership of the painting.
You may be asking yourself: Is that possible? Didn’t they buy the piece at an art gallery? Didn’t they own it for years? On what basis is this claim being brought? All of these are good and interesting questions. The answer, I promise you, is even more interesting.
Mr. Richard Semmel, a German Jew, and the textile mogul in question, owned the painting at the time he was compelled to leave Nazi-occupied Germany prior to World War II. Mr. Semmel began to sell off his art collection in 1933, and the Renoir painting was purportedly part of this collection.
The argument that is expected to be advanced is that Mr. Semmel was forced to sell his collection to finance his safety and escape. Mr. Semmel was not the only person who disposed of his assets in this manner over half a century ago, and some have estimated that there are over 600,000 pieces of art which were taken or disposed of by the Nazis. Project HEART has attended to tracing and compiling a database of property lost in this manner, including many pieces of art, leaving the question open as to how many other potential claims are out there.
This argument has been used before; when Semmel’s heirs were successful in compelling the Dutch government to return to them a painting that had previously hung in the national museum. In this instance, a formal claim by the Semmel heirs has not been commenced, but is being considered. In what appears to be a pre-emptive move, the Korhumel Estate has filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago, seeking official rights to the painting.
Depending on the outcome of this litigation, it may be that art collectors will be taking a closer look at their collections, and Estate Planners will be asking if you really know what you own.
Thanks for reading,
Nadia M. Harasymowycz - Click here for more information on Nadia Harasymowycz.
