This undated picture, part of a post WWII French government inventory of property looted in France by the Germans, provided by the French culture ministry shows a Pissarro painting : "La Cueillette des Bois," or "Picking Peas," painted by impressionist master in 1887. A Paris court has ordered an American couple to return a valuable Pissarro painting looted during World War II to the descendants of a French family who owned it at the time. (French Culture Ministry via AP)
November 07, 2017 - 7:40 AM
PARIS - A Paris court has ordered an American couple to return a valuable Camille Pissarro painting looted during World War II to the descendants of a French family who owned it at the time.
U.S. citizens Bruce and Robbi Toll had loaned the painting "La Cueillette des Pois," or "Picking Peas," by impressionist master Pissarro to the Parisian museum Marmottan for an exhibition earlier this year.
But the painting was placed in temporary escrow after one the French heirs recognized it and filed a lawsuit to have the work returned.
A civil judge said Tuesday that the Tolls didn't act in bad faith when they bought the painting from Christie's in 1995 but that the sales of all goods looted by the French Vichy regime or its Nazi allies were void.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017