Tag Archives: Nazi

The Swiss foundation that “inherited” Nazi loot

Posted on: October 21, 2014 by Alexander Herman

A recent dispute has arisen over the sale of artworks, pitting the relatives of two Jewish victims of the Nazis against a Swiss foundation that has been laying claim to assets once owned by the couple. The convoluted saga has been recounted by the New York Times. It involves the extensive art collection of Berlin metals broker Norbert Levy, a collection which […]

Klimt Foundation and heir seek ‘just and fair’ solution

Posted on: September 16, 2014 by Alexander Herman

Recent reports have come out involving a 1902 portrait of Gertrud Loew by Gustav Klimt that had allegedly been taken by the Nazis in Austria from the painting’s subject and owner. Loew had left Austria for the United States in 1939 following the Anschluss of the previous year. It is unclear exactly what happened to the […]

Nazi-looted tapestry returned by University of Sheffield

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 […]

Australia makes its first Nazi art restitution

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 […]

Vienna Philharmonic to Return Stolen French Painting

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 […]

French Restitution of Three Looted Paintings

Posted on: March 14, 2014 by Alexander Herman

A ceremony took place last Monday to commemorate the most recent restitution of three looted paintings by the French State. The speech accompanying the return by French Minister of Culture Aurélie Filippetti demonstrated a change in approach by the French State regarding looted paintings still held by French Museums. It appears Museums will be required to undertake […]

Gurlitt Related Claim Brought in DC Court

Posted on: March 12, 2014 by Alexander Herman

The first claim has been filed in relation to the artworks seized from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt. The plaintiff is David Toren, a descendent of David Friedmann, the wealthy art collector from Breslau (now Wroclaw), who was persecuted as a Jew in Nazi Germany and died in 1942. The claim, dated 5th March 2014, […]

Degenerate Art – online records at the V&A

Posted on: February 6, 2014 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper

The Victoria and Albert Museum has published online two volumes which record what the Nazi regime did with confiscated ‘degenerate art’. Hitler believed post-impressionist modern art, including Expressionists such as Kandinsky and Otto Dix, to be “evidence of a deranged mind”. He ordered more than 16,000 artworks, including works by Van Gogh and Man Ray, […]