Property Law Keyed to Kurtz
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation v. Lubell
Facts
Plaintiff owned a Chagall gouache, valued at $200,000. Sometime between 1965 and 1967, the painting was stolen by a museum employee. Plaintiff noticed the painting was missing in the late 1960s but did not discover that it was stolen until 1969 or 1970. Plaintiff took no steps to contact law enforcement or art galleries or dealers to inform them of the theft. Defendants purchased the painting in 1967 from a gallery and owned it for 20 years. In 1986, a former museum employee saw a transparency of the painting and recognized it. Plaintiff traced the gouache to Defendants and demanded its return. Defendants refused and Plaintiff brought an action in replevin to recover the painting. Defendants pled a number of defenses, including a statute of limitations defense based upon Plaintiff’s lack of diligence in recovering the piece. The trial court granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment based upon this defense, but the appellate court reversed on the grounds that delay alone does not make a replevin action untimely. Defendants appealed.
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