By Irina Tarsis
On December 18, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the 2011 decision dismissing the lawsuit of Pierre Konowaloff against the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the ownership of Paul Cézanne's painting Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory on the basis of the Act of State Doctrine.
According to the Met's provenance, the painting was once in Konowaloff's family, part of the renowned collection of Ivan Morozov. Konowaloff's heir sought action against the Met for its acquisition, possession, display and retention of a painting confiscated by the Soviet Government from Konowaloff's great-grandfather in 1918.
The latest decision came down one day short of the 96th anniversary of the Bolsheviks' decree to confiscate art collection of Ivan Morozov, including the painting in dispute. It was on December 19, 1918, that the collection was declared state property. Hundreds of nationalized treasures were later sold to the West. This particular painting was acquired by Stephen C. Clark, an American collector, in 1933. Clark bequeathed it to the Met. The story of the nationalization and sale of the Russian art treasures is well-researched and documented. See, e.g., Treasure into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938, with a chapter by I. Tarsis on Book dealers, collectors and libraries.
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