Posted on: August 18, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The task force made up of provenance experts dealing with the works found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt in 2012 has recommended that a painting by impressionist artist Max Liebermann be restituted. The fourteen-member task force, often referred to as the “Schwabing Art Trove” Task Force was established in November 2013 by the German federal government and the […]
Posted on: August 8, 2014 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
What do the eighteenth-century tapestries of France’s Château de Versainville, the Hereford Pike and a Cézanne watercolour have in common? Well, they have all been the subject of voluntary acts of return to their original owners by the institutions holding them. And they will be discussed in the upcoming seminar entitled Acts of Grace – Displaced Cultural […]
Posted on: August 5, 2014 by Alexander Herman
Much has been said and written about the present day treatment of Nazi-looted art. But there is another, less well-known chapter to Germany’s past. This involves the confiscation of works of art from East German citizens by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Often the confiscations occurred because the owners of the works were considered members […]
Posted on: June 27, 2014 by Alexander Herman
It has recently been reported that an 18th Century tapestry belonging to Comte Bernard de la Rochefoucauld and looted from the Château de Versainville during the Nazi occupation of France has been voluntarily returned by the University of Sheffield in the UK. The tapestry, which had been taken from the Comte’s residence, was later bought by the […]
Posted on: June 16, 2014 by Alexander Herman
Inspired by ‘international law’ and the 1998 Washington Principles, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne recently announced that it will be restituting a portrait to the heirs of its original owner, Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel. The portrait, originally thought to be a Van Gogh original, had been part of Semmel’s collection which was dispersed and sold under duress by […]
Posted on: May 22, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The European Council’s 1993 Directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State (93/7/EEC) will soon be recast. The proposed updated Directive was approved by the European Parliament and Council on 15 May 2014. The changes involve: Extending the scope of cultural objects covered to include all nationally designated cultural objects (not just those listed […]
Posted on: May 3, 2014 by Hélène Deslauriers
For decades, the Vienna Philharmonic, a 172-year-old institution, held in its storage facility a painting by French artist Paul Signac paintend in 1883. The painting, taken by a German official in 1940 from a French Resistance fighter, was given as a gift to the Viennese orchestra for performances given to German soldiers in France in […]
Posted on: May 2, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The great restitutionist Colin Renfrew, better known perhaps as Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, has recently written a piece in the Art Newspaper on the return of seven of the fifteen pieces of the Sevso Treasure. This story was first commented on in this blog here. Renfrew was careful to explain the tricky situation regarding the ownership of […]
Posted on: April 7, 2014 by Alexander Herman
In recent news regarding the Munich art trove, the Bavarian authorities and the German culture minister have released a statement demonstrating that Cornelius Gurlitt is committed to voluntarily returning any looted art that had been found in his apartment in 2012 to the heirs of the despoiled owners. This forms part of the gradual acceptance […]
Posted on: March 26, 2014 by Alexander Herman
After a saga that has lasted a quarter of a century, the Sevso Treasure has been returned to Hungary. This hoard of silver objects from the late Roman Empire, said to have originated in the area around Lake Balaton in Hungary, had been in England since appearing on the London art market in 1980. The […]