NYU Law School Symposium Focuses On Global Art Disputes

"Art Wars: International Art Disputes" is the title of the Rose L. and Herbert Rubin Symposium on International Law to be held Wednesday, March 25, 1998, at New York University School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South.

The Symposium, open to the public and free to students and educators, begins at 1 p.m. and runs until approximately 7:30 p.m. Registration will take place at the door from 1:00 to 1:15 p.m. Admission is $25. For admission only to the panel, "Nazi Artwork Theft: Reality, Process and Responsibility 50 Years Later," which convenes from 5:45 to 7:15 p.m., the cost is $15.

Three panels, "Issues of Disputed Ownership and Stolen Art as They Affect Museums and Auction Houses," "Debate Over Repatriation of Cultural Property," and "Nazi Artwork Theft" will discuss and debate a number of current issues involving art, including: current effects of the Nazis' conspiracy to steal many of Europe's most illustrious pieces of art during World War II; ongoing efforts worldwide to find, recover, and reclaim legal title and possession of previously lost, stolen, and confiscated artworks; the effect of proprietary disputes on art museums and auction houses; legal and ethical problems encountered by attorneys representing clients in this area; and efforts to repatriate fine art, antiquities and cultural treasures to their countries of origin.

Symposium speakers include noted attorneys working on behalf of art museums, auction houses, and national governments. Participants include U.S. Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey; journalist Hector Feliciano, author of The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World's Greatest Works of Art; Prof. John Henry Merryman; Ashton Hawkins, vice president and counsel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Rena Moulopoulos, senior vice-president at Sotheby's; Prof. Daniel Shapiro; and art dealer Richard Feigen.

The event is organized by NYU School of Law's Journal of International Law and Politics, in cooperation with the New York County Lawyers' Association and the New York Women's Bar Association. Advanced registration is recommended. To register for the Symposium, please call Jennie Dorn at (212) 998-6397 or Laura Smith at (212) 998-6355. For more information, call Margo Crespin at (212) 998-6520.

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