Oklahoma Lawmakers Push for Return of ‘Looted’ Art
Some two dozen Oklahoma state lawmakers are calling on the University of Oklahoma to research if it owns any paintings that were stolen by the Nazis.
Twenty-six members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives introduced a resolution Monday that asks O.U. and its Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art to determine whether any of its paintings were “unlawfully appropriated during the Nazi era.”
The specific painting behind the resolution is Camille Pissaro’s “Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep,” which was donated to the university by Clara Weitzenhoffer upon her death in 2000. The 1886 painting, one of 33 donated to the museum from Clara and Aaron Weitzenhoffer’s extensive collection of French Impressionist art, belonged originally to French department store owner Raoul Meyer.
Meyer’s entire art collection was seized by the Nazis when they invaded France during World War II.
“Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep” changed hands several times, KGOU reported, before a Swiss court ruled in 1953 that Meyer had missed his five-year window to recover the painting. Meyer’s daughter filed a lawsuit against the University of Oklahoma in January 2014.
University officials told The Associated Press that the painting’s full ownership history is u
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
