Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam

The City of Amsterdam (the city) (defendant) owned 14 paintings by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich [Editor’s Note: Malevich’s name has also been less commonly romanized as Malewicz, as in the title of this case]. In 2002, two American museums, the Menil Collection and the Guggenheim (the American museums), contacted the Stedelijk, the city’s art museum, about taking the paintings out on loan for a series of exhibitions. Negotiations ensued, and the loan agreement was executed in fall 2002. Under the agreement, the Stedelijk charged the American museums €25,000 in administration fees. It also dispatched several of its employees to the US with the paintings to ensure their safety. The Stedelijk employees ultimately remained in the US for 34 days, at the expense of the American museums. Two days before the Malevich exhibition closed, Malevich’s heirs (the heirs) (plaintiffs) sued the city in federal district court for misappropriation of the paintings. At the exhibition’s close, the 14 paintings were returned to Amsterdam; they left the US before the city was served with the heirs’ complaint. The city filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that it was immune from suit as a foreign sovereign. In response, the heirs argued that jurisdiction was proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(3)’s expropriation exception, which gives US courts jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns in specified circumstances.