A French woman has ended her legal battle to retrieve a painting stolen from her adoptive parents by the Nazis.
Léone-Noëlle Meyer discovered the artwork was in an Oklahoma gallery in 2012, but the statute of limitations meant she was unable to reclaim it.
On Tuesday, however, she announced she was ending her battle to overturn an agreement to rotate the Pissarro painting between France and the US.
Meyer, who is in her 80s, said she had been “heard but not listened to”.
“After all these years, I have no other choice but to take heed of the inescapable conclusion that it will be impossible to persuade the different parties to whose attention I have brought this matter,” she wrote in a statement.
The University of Oklahoma, where the painting had been found, had threatened to sue her if she did not end her legal action. A US court said she had violated a settlement agreement she had herself helped negotiate.
Meyer will now renounce all rights to the painting, while the university will ensure the painting is rotated between France and the US every three years, as per the original agreement. The painting will also be accompanied by a plaque outlining Meyer’s family history.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
