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For more information, please have a look at The Orpheus Clock by Simon Goodman.
Show Notes:
3:00 Simon Goodman’s background that led to writing The Orpheus Clock
4:30 Location of first looted painting in Chicago in 1995 led to first restitution suit in U.S.
7:00 Nazi inventories and handwritten note by Gutmann gave evidence of looted works; works were sent for safekeeping in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the U.S.
10:30 Anne Webber’s documentary about the Gutmann story, Making a Killing
17:00 Post-war, claimants were required to file individual claimants; Goodman’s father, for example, filed over 1,000 individual claims with the Dutch government
20:00 Goodman’s senate judiciary testimony to extend the statute of limitations for restitution claims; issues that make locating works difficult include change of dimensions, titles, attributions, etc.
24:00 Avoiding litigation in favor of negotiations
30:00 6-7 successful restitutions from Dutch Committee with one pending and a claim to be filed against a museum in the Hague
32:00 Goodman’s complaints to Dutch Committee about its change of direction to deny claimants based on revisionist thinking that museums have feelings and care about what’s in storage; and adoption of the concept of good and bad heirs
35:00 Right of inheritance and right to private property are international principles that should be observed
39:00 Potential claims for return of Goodman’s family home Bosbeek; expectation that one in a concentration camp was still expected to pay their mortgage and property taxes; and government refusal to re-write laws to address these types of injustices
41:00 Shares of the bank that the family founded in Germany
42:00 Simon focuses on the art because searching for beautiful thinks makes the search tolerable compared with searching for the missing insurance policies
43:00 Impediments to heirs include lack of evidence
49:00 The Orpheus Clock was used as the title of the book because of its symbolism on many levels, including that it was the first direct restitution from a German official body
51:00 Restitution for Simon’s grandmother’s fur coats
52:00 Restitution of Orpheus Clock triggered need to revive family trust and to create compact with remaining cousins, which helped to restore familial relationships broken by the Holocaust
Please share your comments and/or questions at [email protected]
Music by Toulme.
To hear more episodes, please visit Warfare of Art and Law podcast's website.
To leave questions or comments about this or other episodes of the podcast and/or for information about joining the 2ND Saturday discussion on art, culture and justice, please message me at [email protected].
Thanks so much for listening!
© Stephanie Drawdy [2025]
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By Stephanie Drawdy
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Send us a text
For more information, please have a look at The Orpheus Clock by Simon Goodman.
Show Notes:
3:00 Simon Goodman’s background that led to writing The Orpheus Clock
4:30 Location of first looted painting in Chicago in 1995 led to first restitution suit in U.S.
7:00 Nazi inventories and handwritten note by Gutmann gave evidence of looted works; works were sent for safekeeping in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the U.S.
10:30 Anne Webber’s documentary about the Gutmann story, Making a Killing
17:00 Post-war, claimants were required to file individual claimants; Goodman’s father, for example, filed over 1,000 individual claims with the Dutch government
20:00 Goodman’s senate judiciary testimony to extend the statute of limitations for restitution claims; issues that make locating works difficult include change of dimensions, titles, attributions, etc.
24:00 Avoiding litigation in favor of negotiations
30:00 6-7 successful restitutions from Dutch Committee with one pending and a claim to be filed against a museum in the Hague
32:00 Goodman’s complaints to Dutch Committee about its change of direction to deny claimants based on revisionist thinking that museums have feelings and care about what’s in storage; and adoption of the concept of good and bad heirs
35:00 Right of inheritance and right to private property are international principles that should be observed
39:00 Potential claims for return of Goodman’s family home Bosbeek; expectation that one in a concentration camp was still expected to pay their mortgage and property taxes; and government refusal to re-write laws to address these types of injustices
41:00 Shares of the bank that the family founded in Germany
42:00 Simon focuses on the art because searching for beautiful thinks makes the search tolerable compared with searching for the missing insurance policies
43:00 Impediments to heirs include lack of evidence
49:00 The Orpheus Clock was used as the title of the book because of its symbolism on many levels, including that it was the first direct restitution from a German official body
51:00 Restitution for Simon’s grandmother’s fur coats
52:00 Restitution of Orpheus Clock triggered need to revive family trust and to create compact with remaining cousins, which helped to restore familial relationships broken by the Holocaust
Please share your comments and/or questions at [email protected]
Music by Toulme.
To hear more episodes, please visit Warfare of Art and Law podcast's website.
To leave questions or comments about this or other episodes of the podcast and/or for information about joining the 2ND Saturday discussion on art, culture and justice, please message me at [email protected].
Thanks so much for listening!
© Stephanie Drawdy [2025]
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