THE LONG ITINERARY OF A LOOTED ART TREASURE
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Bringing back to his legitimate owner an art work is a slow, difficult
and expensive process that can take decades. Take for example the case of
the above oil portrait of a "Courtier" attributed to Flemish painter Jan Mostaert
(1475-1555) who was listed since 1890 in the inventory of the princely Polish
family Czartoryski's collection in the Goluchów Castle Museum in Poland. In
1939, Duchess Maria L. Czartoryski, not believing the promises of peace
made by European politicians, had the Portrait moved to Varsaw. In 1941,
the Portrait was confiscated by the Nazis who stripped bare Poland of all her
treasures in six months.
Three years after the end of the war, the Portrait surface at NewHouse
Galleries in New York City. It was then presented as coming from "an
important European collection." At that time, everybody in the art trade knew
that Nazis looted items were surfacing here and there but nobody used to
ask too many questions. Hundreds of thousands of works had disappeared
during the War and it was useless to be too curious. Business first.
In 1949, a certain Mrs. A.D.Williams from Richmond (Va.) showed up at
the Galleries and bought the "Portrait". In her will, she bequeathed the
painting to the Virginia Museum but only after her husband' s death. She
passed away in 1950 and in 1952 after the death of her husband the
painting was delivered to the Virginia Museum where it stayed until now.
At the end of the 90s, the museum began looking its holdings for works
of art of questionable provenance and in 2004 decided that the "Portrait" had
a questionable provenance. After investigations, the legitimate owner was
investigated through a catalog published by the Polish embassy and
contacts were taken with the Polish authorities who immediately identified
the paintings as a part of the Czartoryski's collection.
Virginia Museum Fine Arts' trustees voted in September 2005 to
deaccession and transfer the painting to the Embassy of the Republic of
Poland. Acting for Adam Count Zamoyski, the representative of the rightful
owners' descendants, the Embassy deposited the "Portrait" on behalf of the
family in the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland. It took only 60
years for this magnificent portrait to find its way back to the place where it
belongs. The Foreign Polish Minister has currently his eyes on 12 works of
Art which have allegedly been looted from Poland by the Nazis.
However it is also well known that a lot of museums prefer to pay a
lump sum to the legitimate owners and keep the stolen treasures. Some
lawyers excel in the job of bringing up a legitimate owner and striking a deal
with the museum, pocketing in the process some thousands of dollars.
and expensive process that can take decades. Take for example the case of
the above oil portrait of a "Courtier" attributed to Flemish painter Jan Mostaert
(1475-1555) who was listed since 1890 in the inventory of the princely Polish
family Czartoryski's collection in the Goluchów Castle Museum in Poland. In
1939, Duchess Maria L. Czartoryski, not believing the promises of peace
made by European politicians, had the Portrait moved to Varsaw. In 1941,
the Portrait was confiscated by the Nazis who stripped bare Poland of all her
treasures in six months.
Three years after the end of the war, the Portrait surface at NewHouse
Galleries in New York City. It was then presented as coming from "an
important European collection." At that time, everybody in the art trade knew
that Nazis looted items were surfacing here and there but nobody used to
ask too many questions. Hundreds of thousands of works had disappeared
during the War and it was useless to be too curious. Business first.
In 1949, a certain Mrs. A.D.Williams from Richmond (Va.) showed up at
the Galleries and bought the "Portrait". In her will, she bequeathed the
painting to the Virginia Museum but only after her husband' s death. She
passed away in 1950 and in 1952 after the death of her husband the
painting was delivered to the Virginia Museum where it stayed until now.
At the end of the 90s, the museum began looking its holdings for works
of art of questionable provenance and in 2004 decided that the "Portrait" had
a questionable provenance. After investigations, the legitimate owner was
investigated through a catalog published by the Polish embassy and
contacts were taken with the Polish authorities who immediately identified
the paintings as a part of the Czartoryski's collection.
Virginia Museum Fine Arts' trustees voted in September 2005 to
deaccession and transfer the painting to the Embassy of the Republic of
Poland. Acting for Adam Count Zamoyski, the representative of the rightful
owners' descendants, the Embassy deposited the "Portrait" on behalf of the
family in the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland. It took only 60
years for this magnificent portrait to find its way back to the place where it
belongs. The Foreign Polish Minister has currently his eyes on 12 works of
Art which have allegedly been looted from Poland by the Nazis.
However it is also well known that a lot of museums prefer to pay a
lump sum to the legitimate owners and keep the stolen treasures. Some
lawyers excel in the job of bringing up a legitimate owner and striking a deal
with the museum, pocketing in the process some thousands of dollars.
"Courtier" attributed to Flemish
painter Jan Mostaert (1475-1555)
painter Jan Mostaert (1475-1555)
