Musée Rolin Helps Return a Nazi-Looted Painting to Its Rightful Owner
December 7, 2023 – Media Mention
Observer
Yaél M. Weitz
Counsel Yaél M. Weitz spoke to the Observer about an art museum in Autun, France’s role in the restitution of an Old Master painting to her clients, the heirs of a prominent Dutch Jewish art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker, whose collection was looted by the Nazis in 1940.
The article notes that Musée Rolin was offered a donation of the painting Adam and Eve attributed to Dutch painter Cornelis van Haarlem. After the museum found a Goudstikker label on the back of the painting they discovered that it was one of the works looted from the late dealer’s collection.
“The museum really acted in the way that you want museums to be acting; they flagged it, they contacted the family, they were doing the right thing to resolve this in a fair and correct way,” said Yaél. “They handled it in a way that we hope other museums will going forward,” she explained.
The articles notes that “Goudstikker, a dealer of Old Master and 19th-century artists, was forced to flee Europe in 1940 and leave his gallery of approximately 1,400 works behind. He died in an accident while escaping across the English Channel on a cargo boat. As his widow and son traveled to North America, a majority of his collection was subsequently turned over to Hermann Göring in a forced sale.”
To commemorate the return of the painting, Musée Rolin will hold a presentation ceremony to recognize the painting and the work involved in its restitution.
The article highlighted that not all restitution attempts have been so successful. There are still hundreds of missing works out there, according to Yaél, who has worked on the restitution of Goudstikker artwork for years. “These restitutions are really meaningful,” she said. “They make a difference in a small way by righting some of the historical wrongs.”