The Court of Cassation has just handed down a very important ruling in a case of the spoliation of works of art during the Second World War. Hunted by the Vichy regime because he was Jewish, the lawyer and collector Armand Dorville died in 1941 without an heir. His executor held the auction of his 445 works in June 1942 in Nice. Having discovered Dorville’s Jewishness, the General Commission for Jewish Questions named a provisional administrator at the last minute. During the sale, 12 works were acquired by national museums while 9 works, acquired by individuals, subsequently entered public collections. The proceeds of the sale are confiscated by the provisional administrator and will only be returned to the surviving heirs after the war.
In 2019, the descendants of Armand Dorville wish to have the theft nature of the sale recognized in order to obtain the restitution of these works. The Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation for Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliations (CIVS) recommends the restitution of the 12 works “on the basis of equity”which was enacted by the law of February 21, 2022. On the other hand, it refused the restitution of the 9 works acquired by individuals, which the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed on December 5, 2023, because the sale had been carried out without violence.
On Wednesday November 26, 2025, the Court of Cassation shatters this vision. Reversing its traditional jurisprudence, it upholds the Dorville descendants by admitting that apparently legal sales are dispossessing. “unless it is established (…) that the appointment of the provisional administrator remained without any effect until the complete execution of the act”. However, the provisional administrator of the Dorville sale having “proceeded to confiscate the entire proceeds of the sale to the detriment of the heirs (…) his appointment had not remained without effect”.
For Corinne Hershkovitch, lawyer for the descendants, “the Court of Cassation confirms the importance of the order of April 21, 1945 and its legitimacy in the organization of restitution of looted property”. The appeal judgment being overturned, the high court instructs the referring court to apply this new definition. Ultimately, it should probably grant the restitution of these 9 works kept at the Louvre, Orsay and the museums of Dijon, Grenoble and Nice.
