Authorities of the Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds will not be given to the restitution of the picture of the famous British landscape painter John Constable (John Constable) «Valley of the river Stour. Even in 2006 it demanded the return Monteagl Alain (Alain Monteagle) from the French city of Montreuil - heir to the collector of Jewish descent Anna Jaffe (Anna Jaffe).

According to the city authorities Konya Remy (Remy Cogniat), the return of two paintings impede legitimate reason. First, Swiss law does not provide for mandatory restitution. And secondly, the hands of officials connected the last testament of the owner of canvases Madeleine Junod (Madeleine Junod).

In 1986, she gave the city landscape by Constable, together with other works from his collection, but with one condition: all the work to be exhibited together only in a certain city hall of the Museum of Fine Arts. "So we have no right to give", - explained Konya.

Canvas "Stour Valley," whose value is estimated at about one million Swiss francs, was confiscated from the house of a British Jewish Anna Jaffe in 1942, after the owner died at the age of 90. It was awarded by the Vichy government, collaborated with the Nazis. The picture was sold at auction, after which she changed several owners and in 1946 fell into the hands of René and Madeleine Junod.

According to the London office, where the recorded information on stolen cultural objects in the collection of Anna Jaffe was a lot of works, including paintings of Goya (Francisco Goya), Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) and Turner (Joseph Mallord William Turner). According to the laws of the Vichy regime, all property belonging to Jews, was to be confiscated and sold at public auction. Therefore, in July 1943 in Nice on the auction, which was sold out the entire collection of Jaffa. A total of 48 hours, one of the most expensive collections in France, were separated for a penny, as the old flea market.

After the announcement of the decision taken by the authorities of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Remy Konya promised that the museum will be placed next to pictures of a plate with a story about the history of painting. No comment on the denial of restitution by the plaintiff were not yet available.

article prepared by Catherine Onuchina, AI

Sources: AP , artinvestment.ru