Restitution

At its most basic, restitution refers to ‘the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner.’ Our restitution services at Mondex take things further, which is part of our value to clients. Once an artwork or other cultural artifact has been recovered, our clients may wish to gift or loan the artwork to a third party, or we may arrange for its sale through an established auction house or specialist dealer. In either scenario we secure the necessary insurance and transportation, adhering strictly to fine-art protocols involving the crating, packing, storage and delivery of valuable artworks.

Our restitution services at Mondex take things further, which is part of our value to clients.

 

When our clients decide that the sale of a restituted artwork is appropriate, then the well-established relationships, which we have developed in the art world become very important. We work closely with our partners, who highly regard the cultural heritage of art as much as they value discretion, and together we expertly market works of art, and, in so doing, find a suitable home for what may often be a very sentimental and important artwork.  The value that we bring to our clients in this process often exceeds the cost of our services and the peace of mind provided is priceless.

Restitution Success Rate *

organizations we have cooperated with to complete important restitutions:
97%
organizations we have cooperated with to complete important restitutions:
Mondex's valued clients benefit from our outstanding success rate in returning artworks to which they have rightful claims. Our clients reap the rewards, not only of our superlative track record, but of our team's expert knowledge and skills, developed over more than 25 years, and our unparalleled commitment to our clients.
We are honoured to have completed several successful restitutions with a large number of museums, government organizations, institutions and private individuals world-wide, and to have found just and fair restitution solutions for our clients, which preserve their dignity and protects their human rights.
*Success rate based on filed claims as of 2023 (rate may change).

Related Results Case Studies

  • Case Study

Improving Dutch Restitution Policy

December 7th, 2020, was an important day for Dutch restitution policy.  On this day,
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  • Case Study

Restitution laws in France – The case of the Marc Chagall painting

In 1940, a painting titled Le Père, by Marc Chagall, was looted from David
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  • Case Study

Claim against the International Art Center

Mondex has vigorously prosecuted a claim against the International Art Center, S.A, (IAC) for
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We do share the field with others, organizations whose mandate is similar. All too often, however, these other companies or lawyers take a passive approach to restitution — often simply by listing artworks or cultural assets on public websites, for example, in the hope that someone will discover them, recognize them as their clients’ property, and help to return them. At Mondex, we are incredibly proactive. 

We work hard to locate and recover artworks and other cultural artifacts by proactively searching for these assets, and then by doing what is appropriate to recover them. With members of our team located throughout North America and Western and Eastern Europe, we are well positioned to continually search for and locate the artworks and other cultural artifacts of our clients.

In fact, because we conduct research on multiple cases, simultaneously, our multilingual, international team of researchers is always on the lookout for data that are relevant to other cases. Archival material we source for one case can often offer insights into another, usually via clues that we carefully identify and track. Each of these clues is important. In situations where documents have been misfiled, for example, it can be as though they never existed.  By systematically searching millions of documents, we enhance the probability of locating our clients’ property, and our clients’ chances of a successful restitution.

Additional Services

When necessary Mondex provides international genealogical and probate research to help prove the entitlement of our clients.  Vital statistic documents, probated Wills and other official documents are acquired, translated, certified and vised by embassies when necessary.

Mondex's typical restitution claims involve facts which took place in several different countries and over many decades.  This requires an excellent understanding of the fundamental legal principles and opportunities available when developing an international legal strategy to facilitate a restitution claim.

Mondex is often able to help its clients with the recovery of other assets, which may be unknown to our clients.  This benefit provides our clients with significant, additional value.

Once a work of art has been located Mondex contacts the possessor and begins negotiations to recover the identified work of art.  If a mutually agreeable settlement is reached, then the claim is considered resolved.  When appropriate Mondex is also agreeable to resolve such matters by way of mediation and if necessary, by filing a legal claim, as a last resort, to protect the rights of its clients.

In many instances a collection of artworks may have been looted from one country, transported to a second country and wind up in the hands of private individuals or organizations in several other countries. In such situations the laws and circumstances of each of the countries may become relevant and the legal complexities and challenges that arise as a result need to be properly managed. Over the years Mondex has assembled an excellent team of lawyers in several countries who cooperate to help Mondex’s clients recover their works of art. Such a team approach is required in order for the lawful beneficiaries to have the best chances of success with the recovery of their looted artworks.

Families who are fortunate enough to enjoy a successful restitution often face the practical challenge of what to do next.  Most families do not have the resources to properly store and display a recovered artwork and sharing the artwork among several family members poses other logistical challenges.  This usually leads to the family donating the artwork to a museum or to the sale of the artwork.  This important process must be very carefully managed to protect the value of the property.  Over the decades Mondex has developed significant expertise to help its clients navigate the optimal path, whether with the help of the most established auction houses or through specialist dealers who work closely with Mondex to maximize the value of the artwork.

Mondex also arranges for the transportation and insurance of the artworks that it recovers when such works of art are shipped from the possessor to the auction houses or dealers with whom Mondex cooperates.

Because Mondex conducts research on several cases simultaneously, its multi-lingual, international team of researchers is often on the lookout for archival documents that can easily be related to other cases. Finding such documents or clues in such cases can often lead to the successful conclusion in what might otherwise appear to be an unrelated case. In cases where documents have been misfiled, it can be as though they never existed. But if Mondex is aware of the case for which the documents appear to be missing, we can identify what they are and why they are significant. Sometimes seemingly minor documents or facts can be seen to be significant in the context of additional information.