Van Gogh painting with mysterious past is immune from seizure, DIA claims

Detroit — The Detroit Institute of Arts cannot be forced to relinquish control of a multimillion-dollar painting by Vincent van Gogh at the center of a federal lawsuit because the artwork is protected by a federal law granting immunity to foreign artwork on display in the United States, the museum's lawyers said Monday.

The painting, "Liseuse De Romans," was granted immunity last summer by the U.S. State Department under a nearly 60-year-old law that governs art and other foreign items of cultural significance imported to the U.S., the lawyers wrote.

The argument is the latest development in the case of the Van Gogh painting, which a Brazilian art collector claims went missing from his collection for six years until being found recently hanging on a wall in the Detroit museum as part of the ongoing "Van Gogh in America" exhibition.

Read more: A Van Gogh gone: A lawsuit and international art hunt that leads to DIA

The filing adds fresh international intrigue to a case that drew worldwide attention — and a security guard — to the museum last week after collector Gustavo Soter sued the DIA in federal court to recover "Liseuse De Romans"— also known as "The Novel Reader" or "The Reading Lady." The painting is worth more than $5 million.

The lawsuit by Soter's art brokerage company, Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC, describes an international hunt for a rare oil painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist master and a frantic attempt to reclaim the artwork before the exhibition leaves town Sunday.

The court filing Monday leaves one mystery intact: the DIA did not identify who loaned the painting to the museum. An attachment simply says it is on loan from a private collection in São Paulo, Brazil.

A federal judge has blocked DIA officials from moving or hiding the painting ahead of a court hearing Thursday. The order from U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh prevents DIA officials from "damaging, destroying, concealing, disposing, moving" or substantially impairing the value of the painting.

"The maintenance of this lawsuit would threaten the ability of U.S. art museums to assemble world-renowned exhibitions, such as Van Gogh in America, likely chilling the willingness of foreign lenders to lend works of art to U.S. institutions," wrote the DIA's lawyer, Andrew Pauwels of Honigman LLP.

"Like its peer U.S. art museums, the DIA relies on loans from collectors, galleries, and museums around the world to provide the visiting public with meaningful cultural and educational experiences," Pauwels added. "These exchanges benefit society immeasurably."

Soter says he bought the painting for $3.7 million in 2017. After paying for the artwork, he transferred possession, but not title, to an unidentified third party, the lawsuit alleges.

"This party absconded with the painting, and plaintiff has been unaware of its whereabouts for years," Brokerarte's lawyer Aaron Phelps wrote. "Since plaintiff purchased the painting in May 2017, plaintiff has not known the location of the painting."

Then, a breakthrough.

"Recently, however, plaintiff learned that the painting is in the DIA's possession, on display as part of the museum's 'Van Gogh in America' exhibition," the lawyer wrote.

The DIA, in an emailed statement last week, said the museum follows best practices before agreeing to international loans, including the research of ownership from scholarly sources, the Art Loss Register and the U.S. Federal Register.

The DIA applied for immunity from the State Department in May. The application listed 27 works of art, including "Liseuse De Romans," according to the court filing Monday.

"Incidentally, the DIA notes that prior to submitting its application for immunity to the State Department, the DIA received confirmation from the Art Loss Register that the painting was not registered as stolen or missing," the DIA lawyer wrote. "The DIA also has confirmed that the painting is not listed on the FBI’s National Stolen Art File."

The painting has played an increasingly popular role in the DIA exhibition with tickets selling out last weekend.

The exhibition opened in October and celebrates the DIA's status as the first public museum in the United States to purchase a Van Gogh painting, a self-portrait created in 1887.

The exhibition, which runs through Sunday, includes 74 Van Gogh paintings and is considered one of the largest of Van Gogh's work in America in the 21st century. The authentic Van Gogh pieces are on loan from roughly 60 museums and collections all over the world, including "The Bedroom," from the Chicago Institute of Art; "Van Gogh's Chair" from London's National Gallery; and "Starry Night (Starry Night Over the Rhone)" from Paris's Musee d'Orsay.

"The DIA and other U.S. cultural institutions would suffer substantial harm if the court were to violate the Immunity from Seizure Act and order the DIA to surrender possession of the painting to Plaintiff, or even if the court were to maintain the Order Pending Hearing," the DIA lawyer wrote. "This harm would impact not only the museums but all society."

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews