An Austrian appeals court refused to recognize the multi-billion claim for damages against the Czech state lodged by the blood plasma firm Diag Human and as a result Czech works of art seized in Vienna in May this year, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported Friday. The ruling means that the paintings by Emil Filla and Vincenc Beneš and a bronze statue by Otto Gutfreund — all of which were seized when on loan to a Viennese gallery — will be returned to the Moravian Gallery in Brno.
