Pissarro painting confiscated by Nazis at center of Supreme Court arguments

[cab67]

5. that's true in natural history museums as well.

I have friends who were involved in discussions with indigenous American communities about artifacts held by museums. Not all were collected by grave robbers; they would have been considered purchased or freely donated by the museum curators at the time. The problem is that the indigenous makers of these artifacts didn't necessarily see it that way or understand the full implications of the transaction.

Everyone in the repatriation effort worked hard to be fully respectful of the people who created these objects while also conserving some of them for scholars, an increasing number of whom are from these communities themselves. And some of that included discussions of how, exactly, the items came to be in the museum.

I get the sense that's similar to many of the arguments being made by art collectors and museums - were these art pieces stolen, or were they sold, given away, or abandoned?

As far as I'm concerned, though, this case is fairly clear - the painting should be returned to the family.