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The Case against Statutes of Limitations for Stolen Art

1994; The Yale Law Journal Company; Volume: 103; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/797052

1939-8611

Steven A. Bibas,

Law in Society and Culture

In the mid-1960's, a mailroom clerk at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City stole a Marc Chagall watercolor entitled The Cattle Dealer.Museum officials did not notify the police, the FBI, Interpol, or other museums or galleries of the theft.In 1967, Jules and Rachel Lubell bought The Cattle Dealer from a reputable New York gallery and displayed it in their home for over two decades.After learning of the painting's location in 1985, museum officials demanded its return.When Mrs. Lubell refused, the museum began a lawsuit that dragged on for years.'Mrs. Lubell claimed ownership as an adverse possessor and under the statute of limitations.In 1991, the New York Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court for a determination of the relative blameworthiness of the parties, further prolonging the litigation. 3 The balancing-test approach adopted by the New York Court of Appeals in Guggenheim exemplifies one of several tangled threads in the law of stolen 1. See