Art looted under Vichy to return to owners

A painting by Camille Pissarro must be returned to the Parisian family who lost it during the Nazi occupation even though its present American owners bought it in good faith, the highest court in France has ruled. The decision by the Cassation Court ends a threeyear legal battle over La Cueillette des Pois [The Pea Harvest], painted in 1887. It sets an important precedent by upholding a 1945 French law annulling the ownership of art stolen from Jews during the 1940-1944 occupation. The painting was part of a collection belonging to Simon Bauer which was seized in 1943 under the anti-Jewish laws of the Vichy regime. Bauer survived the war but died before he could track down the work. His grandson Jean-Jacques Bauer, 90, has led the fight for its restitution. His breakthrough came in 2017 when Bruce and Robbi Toll, residents of Florida who made their fortune in property development, lent the picture for a show at the Marmottan museum in Paris. It was seized by the French authorities pending legal action.