DETROIT – A federal judge declined to make a ruling on whether the Detroit Institute of Arts can continue to hang a painting by Vincent van Gogh that was allegedly stolen.
Instead, the Judge repeatedly urged attorneys from both sides to find an agreement themselves before he writes a written ruling.
At the heart of the dispute is Vincent van Gogh’s “The Novel Reader” painted in 1888. It was painted later in the Dutch artist’s career and is considered to be an experimental work.
Attorneys for their client, a person claiming ownership from Brazil said their client had given the painting to a 3rd party for storage when it was purchased in 2017 for $3.7 million.
They allege that 3rd party then cut ties with the claiming owner. The painting was missing for years until it surfaced at the DIA. The painting, according to the DIA’s attorneys, was never listed as lost or stolen on any international database.
Attorneys for the DIA said the museum is protected by a 1965 law and had received approval to hang the painting by the state department for being both “culturally significant and of national interest.”
The DIA however has not disclosed where they got the painting in the first place, nor disclosed the lending agreement. The plaque beneath the painting in the exhibit does not specify an owner only that it came from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
At several points, the attorneys for the claimed owner came close to accusing the DIA of being part of an alleged theft or essentially continuing an alleged theft of what they claimed to be their art. The judge said before putting the court in recess the DIA “is blameless in this case.”
Neither attorneys for the claimed owner nor the DIA had a comment in court Thursday. The DIA also declined to comment on the case specifically but did release a statement.
“The museum’s focus during these final days of the internationally celebrated Van Gogh in America exhibition is on welcoming guests from Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties, around the state of Michigan, the united states, and the world.”
In a surprise, attorneys for the claimed owner also told the court they received a call this week from another set of lawyers from New York, who said they represented the real beneficiaries of the painting, or essentially someone else claiming to be the owner or custodian. That new party is not named in the case.
The Van Gogh in America exhibition is set to end on Jan 22, but the current restraining order preventing the painting from being seized ends at the end of the month.
What happens to the painting after both the exhibition ends and order is up is still unclear. When the judge would issue a ruling is also unclear.
He told the courtroom today he wanted attorneys to find a resolution on their own, even offering to help the negotiations or he would have a ruling “sooner rather than later.”
Read: Judge wants parties to settle dispute over van Gogh painting at Detroit Institute of Arts