Comment | A generational moment for Nazi-looted art claims in the US

The US House of Representatives passed an expanded Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2025 on March 16, 2026, after the Senate, and the bill is awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature, The Art Newspaper reports. The legislation would make permanent the 2016 HEAR Act’s six-year statute of limitations that begins when claimants have actual knowledge of both their claim and the artwork’s location, and it aims to limit “technical defenses” that have blocked cases. The article notes that only one civil case citing the 2016 act is known to have resulted in a court-ordered return of art (Reif v. Nagy), while other claims have been dismissed using defenses such as laches, the act of state doctrine, and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. It adds that even with legal changes, gaps in historical evidence may still prevent courts from resolving claims on the merits.

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events