Lawsuits :

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Claims 2008-2009

The heirs of Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have brought several cases for the return of works of art from his collection. In 2006 Picasso's "The Absinthe Drinker" was claimed from the composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber. In 2007 the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was asked to hand over Picasso's "Boy Leading a Horse" while a request was made to the Guggenheim Museum, New York, to return the Picasso oil painting "Le Moulin de la Galette". in 2009 Munich's Neue Pinakothek museum was asked to return Picasso's "Madame Soler".

News stories about all of these cases can be found in the News Archive by searching under 'Mendelssohn'.

Court documents relating to the 2007 New York claims can be found here. These are the Order of 30 December 2008 issued by Judge Rakoff of the New York Southern District Court in advance of the trial due to start on 2 February 2009, the transcript of the Settlement Conference on 2 February 2009 in the New York Southern District Court before Judge Rakoff, and the Memorandum Order of 23 March 2009 issued by Judge Rakoff in which he commented adversely on the confidentiality of the terms of the settlement between the parties in light of the important public issues highlighted by the case.