California Attorney General Rob Bonta today filed a motion to intervene in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation to defend Assembly Bill (AB) 2867, which expands the rights of victims of art theft. Cassirer v. Thyssen is a long-running case concerning the ownership of an 1897 oil painting by French impressionist Camille Pissarro that was stolen by the Nazi regime in 1939. After a series of transactions, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection — an instrumentality of the Kingdom of Spain — acquired the painting in 1993 and still holds it today despite conceding that it is harboring stolen Nazi loot. The California Attorney General’s Office has supported the Cassirer family in their legal effort to secure the return of this painting for more than 20 years. Attorney General Bonta now seeks to intervene in their case as California chief’s law officer, responsible for defending the constitutionality of state laws like AB 2867.
“There is nothing that can undo the horrors and loss experienced by individuals during the Holocaust. But there is something we can do — that California has done — to return what was stolen back to survivors and their families and bring them some measure of justice and healing,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “AB 2867 is about fairness, moral — and legal — responsibility, and doing what’s right. As Attorney General, my job is to defend the laws of California, and I intend to do so here. My office has supported the Cassirers’ quest for justice for two decades, and we will continue to fight with them for the rightful return of this invaluable family heirloom.”