Lawsuits :

Suit filed by heir of German art critic and publisher Paul Westheim against heirs of Charlotte Weidler 25 January 2013

On 25 January 2013 the heir of Paul Westheim filed suit in New York to recover paintings from the Westheim collection of German Expressionists which had been given to Charlotte Weidler, a friend and art dealer, in 1933 for safekeeping when Westheim fled Berlin to escape persecution.

The collection contained over 50 paintings and sculptures, 3,000 watercolours, drawings and prints and 50 portfolios and illustrated books all signed by the artists.

After the war, Weidler claimed that the entire collection had been destroyed or lost in the bombing of Berlin.

Following Paul Westheim's death in 1963, some of the paintings were put on the market by Weidler in New York. It is alleged in the suit that Weidler's heirs have at least four Westheim paintings in their possession today.

To read the Summons and Complaint, click here. To view the Exhibits to the Complaint, click here.