Government Commission to resolve disputes restorative Curto Samuel recommended that the Fund did not return the heirs of the pre-war owner of eight pictures, among them works Loviisa Corinto and Pierre-Auguste Renoir

British government commission recommended that the Fund Curto Samuel (Samuel Courtauld Trust) is not given for the restitution of eight paintings sold in 1933, a collector of Jewish descent Kurt Glaser (Curt Glaser).

Glazer has been the director of the Berlin Library of Art, art historian and critic. Among his friends included the artists Edvard Munch (Edvard Munch), and Max Bekmann (Max Beckmann). In April 1933, the Nazis forced him to leave and move to an apartment. The following month, Glaser sold at auction, most of works from his collection. Among them were paintings done by artists such as Lovis Corinto (Lovis Corinth), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Pierre-Auguste Renoir), Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (Giuseppe Bernardino Bison), Giovanni Battista Krozato (Giovanni Battista Crosato), Domenico Fossati (Domenico Fossati) and Domenico Piola (Domenico Piola). It is this work and want to win back the heirs of the collector.

Pictures has bought the well-known collector earl Zaylern Antoine (Antoine Seilern). In 1978, he bequeathed them (along with many other works from his extensive collection of) Fund Samuel Curto. They are now kept in London Courtauld Gallery.

As the heirs Glaser, the collector sold the work, because he had no other choice - he needed the means to leave Germany (October 1933, he fled to Switzerland). But representatives of commissions established by the British Government to resolve disputes about the stolen during the Nazi works held in British museums, said that these arguments are not sufficient to return the drawings - they said the reason the decision to put Glazer works for the auction was not only Nazi persecution, as the death of his wife.

Lawyer heirs Roulend David (David Rowland) said that he would contest the decision. «Glaser lost his job, lost his apartment, he was forced to sell (raboty. - Ed .) And leave the country. If they recognize that the reason for the loss of works was the prosecution of Nazis, the only solution is their return. Decision (komissii. - Ed .) Bad, wrong from a legal point of view. We ask him to reconsider ».

Kurt Glaser died in New York in 1943. After the end of the Second World War, his heirs began to search for works sold at auction. In 1963, German authorities paid his second wife, Mary Glaser Ash (Maria Glaser Ash), compensation in the 7 100 brands.

United Kingdom is among the countries that signed in 1998, the Washington regulations on works of art seized by Nazis. They do not entail legal obligations, but the state are trying to adhere to.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova, AI

Sources: bloomberg.com , artinvestment.ru