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Case Summary
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation v. Lubell
Solomon R. Guggenheim Found. v. Lubell, 153 A.D.2d 143 (N.Y. App. Div. 1990), aff’d, 77 N.Y. 2d 311 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1991).
Précis
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which operates the Guggenheim Museum (together referred to herein as “the Museum”), filed suit to recover a gouache study by Marc Chagall stolen from the Museum and purchased by a
good faith purchaser
One who buys something for value without notice of another's claim to the property and without actual or constructive notice of any defects in or infirmities, claims, or equities against the seller's title; one who has in good faith paid valuable consideration for property without notice of prior adverse claims (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
good faith purchaser, Lubell. The purchaser’s ignorance of the work’s
provenance
The history of the ownership of an object or work of art; sometimes also used to describe the place of origin, or the find-spot, of an archaeological object or other antiquity (more correctly, “provenience”).
provenance was in part due to the museum’s decision not to report the theft. . . .
Associated Legal Decision(s)
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