June 1, 2021
Joint Statement regarding Léone Meyer and the University of Oklahoma and University of Oklahoma Foundation Restate, Reaffirm, and Amend Agreement Regarding the Pissarro Painting, “Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep” (1886)
Ms. Meyer and the University of Oklahoma and OU Foundation have restated and affirmed their original 2016 Settlement Agreement with a mutually agreed upon modification in order to achieve its goals. Ms. Meyer has transferred title, interests, and all standing in connection with the Pissarro painting to the OU Foundation. In turn, the OU Parties have committed to identifying and transferring ownership to a French public institution or the U.S. Art in Embassies program, subject to the parties’ original rotating three-year public display agreement. The OU Parties do not intend for the OU Foundation to retain title to the Painting long-term. The Pissarro painting remains on public display at the Musée d’Orsay, accompanied by a plaque setting forth its provenance, acknowledging the Meyer family’s history, as well as the Weitzenhoffer Family’s and the OU Parties’ good faith. The painting will return to Oklahoma this summer where it will go on public display, also accompanied by the provenance plaque, for three years at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at OU, after which it will return to France for its rotating three-year public display at a French institution identified by the OU Parties.
