In Matters of Probate: Trust but Verify

By Marine Leclinche

When Anne Marie Rouart, the widow of Denis Rouart - a descendent of the French artist and art collector Henri Rouart - died on December 18, 1993, she left behind a tremendous collection of art. The French masters Manet, Morisot, Degas, Monet, Renoir, and de Corot were each included. Many of the works were also painted by Berthe Morisot, from whom the Rouart family is directly descended. By Rouart’s last will dated  October 7, 1992, she left the entire meubles meublants (furniture and decorative pieces) of her apartment in Neuilly-sur-seine, Paris, to her nephew, Yves Rouart. The rest of the art collection was left to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which created a Rouart Foundation and transferred to the Marmottan Museum the principal artworks of the Rouart collection. As of today, four paintings remain untraceable.

This article strives to provide an overview of the long process that ensued to recover some of Mrs. Rouart’s long lost paintings, which involves both French and American Law. The Rouarts’ story, despite its complications and its link with fascinating characters, such as the Wildenstein family, is not unique, and serves as a good reminder for art collectors to carefully plan their estates.