Getting the Nazi stolen art back by Nicholas Glass,
Channel 4 News, 27th Mar 2007
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/getting+the+nazi+stolen+art+back/339147
Uri Peled is a retired librarian from Tel Aviv. His grandfather, Arthur Feldmann, was a Jewish lawyer in the Czech Republic whose fate was sealed when the Nazis invaded. Peled now has one mission in life - to find the old master drawings looted by the Nazis.
The art collection, consisting of some 750 old master drawings, was confiscated from Arthur Feldmann’s villa, and Peled has spent the last 14 years searching for those drawings. Such has been Peled’s tenacity, he's tracked down old master drawings in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Holland, America and Britain. Peled has so far retrieved over 150 of them, mostly from the Czech Republic.
Mr Peled tracked down four drawings to the British Museum; three of four drawings found in the British Museum were originally sold as a job lot at Sotheby's in London in 1946 for £9. The Commission for Looted Art in Europe, based in London, represented his case against the British Museum, in 2002. It took four years to resolve, and involved the Attorney General, the High Court and a body called the Spoliation Advisory Panel. Uri Peled didn't get the drawings back but was given compensation of £175,000 by the British government. He was delighted when the British Museum put on a small exhibition of the drawings.
I find this subject very fascinating. Did you happen to see the PBS special "Rape of Europa"?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the suggestions on my cream and sugar set. I was guessing along those same time frames because of the style. I ordered several books from my library, so hopefully I will be able to match the hallmarks.
Your blog is delightful and I am adding you to my blogroll.
Hi Marguerita
ReplyDeletehttp://atireugram.blogspot.com/2008/04/exhibition-seeks-rightful-owners-for.html
I am also fascinated by the idea of returning art to its rightful owners, or their heirs.
Using newspapers and art bulletins from Europe, North America and Australia, including the Jerusalem Exhibition you have cited, I've found some really interesting cases. I've included them in my blog in three separate posts:
a] Stolen Art Negotiated
b] Stolen Art Exhibited
c] Stolen Art Compensated
If you find any more such cases, I would love you to refer to them in your blog.
Many thanks
Hels
From Marguerita:
I found you from a posting you left on my The Fragebogen. The email I sent you is with the content of my comments to the NYTimes. I also sent you my other blog The Poignant Frog.
I thought it was nice to connect with you. I was born in Australia, returned in 1970 and regretfully left again. But, as much as I try to understand, I never was able to settle anywhere being a daughter of Holocaust survivors, ultimately an uprooted soul forever.
Marguerita