Stedelijk Museum to Divide Malevich Collection

The Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam agreed yesterday to give five paintings by the Russian Suprematist Kashmir Malevich to the artist's heirs, resolving a long-standing dispute over ownership of works in the museum's possession.

When, in 2003-04, the Stedelijk exhibited 14 Malevich works abroad in America, the heirs of the artist sued, claiming that the city of Amsterdam, which operates the museum, had acquired the pieces from an unscrupulous seller, German architect Hugo Haring, who did not control rights to the work when he sold them in 1958.

Though the city maintains that it acquired the collection "properly and honorably," it will deliver to the artist's heirs the works "Desk and Room" (1913), "Suprematism, 18th Construction" (1915), "Painterly Realism of a Football Player" (1915), "Suprematist Composition (Blue Rectangle Over Purple Beam)" (1916), and "Mystic Suprematism (Black Cross on Red Oval)" (1920-22). In return, the heirs have agreed to drop their lawsuit and allow the museum to retain the remaining Maleviches.