Norman, Chesin: New Art Restitution Ruling Could Affect Collectors
The restitution of Holocaust art demands seriousness, care and humility, and does not justify improvising new legal mechanisms that discard due process in pursuit of speed, Shook Partner Scott Chesin and Senior Counsel Channah Norman argue in an article for Wealth Management.
In “A New Art Restitution Ruling Could Affect Collectors,” Chesin and Norman discuss a dispute centered around a 1916 drawing by the Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele titled “Russian War Prisoner.” In September 2025, a judge ordered the Art Institute of Chicago, where the drawing had been in the permanent collection for nearly six decades, to surrender it to the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, a Jewish cabaret performer who died in Dachau after the Nazis allegedly seized his art collection. Norman and Chesin say the case is a warning for advisors whose clients hold significant art collections.
“Artwork with even a tenuous New York connection could become subject to seizure proceedings, regardless of where it’s currently held or how long it’s been in a client’s possession,” they say. “That’s a meaningful title-risk exposure that advisors should factor into collection valuations, estate plans and insurance arrangements.”
Read the article in Wealth Management >>
In “A New Art Restitution Ruling Could Affect Collectors,” Chesin and Norman discuss a dispute centered around a 1916 drawing by the Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele titled “Russian War Prisoner.” In September 2025, a judge ordered the Art Institute of Chicago, where the drawing had been in the permanent collection for nearly six decades, to surrender it to the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, a Jewish cabaret performer who died in Dachau after the Nazis allegedly seized his art collection. Norman and Chesin say the case is a warning for advisors whose clients hold significant art collections.
“Artwork with even a tenuous New York connection could become subject to seizure proceedings, regardless of where it’s currently held or how long it’s been in a client’s possession,” they say. “That’s a meaningful title-risk exposure that advisors should factor into collection valuations, estate plans and insurance arrangements.”
Read the article in Wealth Management >>
