The French Government intends to accelerate the process of restitution of controversial works from the collections of the state museums. Among the candidates for the return of the heirs of Holocaust victims were paintings by Courbet, Cezanne, Degas, Van

Gustav Courbet
Cliffs at Etretat after the storm. 1869
Collection Musée d'Orsay
painting may be returned for restitution
Source: telegraph.co.uk


Paul Gauguin Still Life with Mandolin
Museum collections Orsay
painting may be returned for restitution
Source: telegraph. co.uk

administration of President Francois Hollande created a special advisory committee to speed up the restitution of works of art stolen by the Nazis from Holocaust victims. Once the heirs do not go to museums for their paintings, the museum will find themselves heirs. new group, which will begin in March, will seek the provenance controversial works. To organize your scanned the thousands of pages of documentation, until recently, no matter pylivsheysya archived.

subjected to verification of about 2,140 works of art from the National Assembly. Why this exact figure? Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis illegally seized approximately 100,000 works of art from Jewish collectors throughout Europe. With the fall of the Nazi regime began to search for these stolen property. Allied troops found them in the secret vaults and salt mines in Germany. French governments were given 65,000 for work to be returned to their rightful owners or those of their relatives that were still alive. Roughly three-quarters of the 65 of his works have found their owners. those works for which no one has addressed, was partially sold out, and the best of them (those 2140 products) went to 57 public museums, including the Orsay (71 work), Centre Pompidou (38 works) and the Louvre (678 work).

for restitution of works by the French Ministry of Culture acted before, but the process was sluggish due to a lack of documentation and not the active position of the state in this matter. Since 1951, only 103 works were returned. French government criticized for delaying restorative processes. new committee should make a difference. And it seems that the ice was already moving. In mid-February it was announced that the restitution of seven canvases XVII - XVIII centuries from the Louvre and other museums .

in the number of candidates to return to the heirs Holocaust victims were paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Dyck, Ingres, Pissarro, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Gauguin and Tiepolo. Though millions of masterpieces among them, there is still quite significant works. example, two works from the collection of the Orsay - "Rocks at Etretat after the storm "brush Gustave Courbet (estimated at 170 thousand pounds) and" Still Life with Mandolin "by Paul Gauguin (estimated at 350,000 lbs.) in 2140 also includes the works of sculpture, furniture, jewelry, Greek and Egyptian artifacts including marble statue of Dionysus II century Greek sarcophagus III century.

Prepared Maria Onuchina, AI

Sources : artinvestment.ru