German commission backs restitution of Kandinsky painting owned by Bavarian bank to Jewish heirs

An independent German commission is recommending the restitution of a painting by Wassily Kandinsky currently owned by the Bavarian state bank to the heirs of a Jewish family that the artwork originally belonged to. The advisory commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution — especially Jewish property — can be called on in disputed cases. The commission advised on Tuesday that in the case of the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein Weyermann and Irma Lewenstein Klein versus Bayerische Landesbank, the state bank should restitute the 1907 painting “The Colorful Life” by Russian artist Kandinsky to the heirs.