‘Night Café’ case will be Yale v. Yale
The lawyer representing Pierre Konowaloff, the descendant of a Russian aristocrat contesting Yale’s ownership of Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece “The Night Café,” has his legal roots here in New Haven.
According to new court documents filed by Yale last week, Allan Gerson LAW ’76 is representing the defendant, who claims to be the rightful owner of the painting. The new document says Konowaloff has until May 22 to respond to Yale’s suit, which the University filed against Konowaloff last Monday to assert its ownership of the piece.
Konowaloff claims “The Night Café” should...
In my recent blog post http://arttheftcentral.blogspot.com/2009/04/russian-nationalization-of-art.html I excerpt from RT Taylor's discussion on the flow of art across the Atlantic around the time of the Communist Revolution. Certainly, opportunism on both the part of the noveaux riches and art dealers transformed this flow into a flood.