`Looted Nazi art' in National Gallery
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
THE NATIONAL Gallery is to study the histories of more than 100 of its paintings amid fears that they could have been looted by the Nazis. The suspect works include paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Redon, Degas, Van Dyck and Caravaggio.
The National Gallery will be the first gallery or museum in the world to go through its collection to root out paintings with Nazi links. However its director, Neil MacGregor, said yesterday that even if any of the paintings were found to have been looted by the Nazis, they could not be returned to their rightful owners. He said: "In law we can't transfer title. So we can't give a painting back to an individual but the individual might want compensation."
The decision to investigate any painting whose provenance is unclear is the first step by British galleries to determinewhether any works might have been looted from Jewish families. Other galleries, including the Tate, the British Museum and leading regional galleriesare drawing up plans to sift through their collections.
Mr MacGregor said yesterday he thought it unlikely that many, if any, of the paintings would turn out to have been in Nazi hands. But after the "Nazi Gold" revelations of money looted from Jewish families, it was felt necessary to remove any doubt. He added: "Of the 2,400 paintings in the National Gallery, 470 have been acquired since 1933 and there are 120 where we can't be certain about their provenance.
"We are doing this so anyone who might have a claim can see what is in the National Gallery. But we should keep a sense of proportion; my hunch is thatonly very few works will turn out to be open to dispute."
On the 120-strong list are such works as Woman Drying Herself by Degas; Ophelia Among the Flowers by Redon and Picasso's Fruit, Dish, Bottle and Violin.
The change in attitude to the Nazi period over the past couple of years is illustrated by the example of Bosschaert's Flowers in a Vase, acquired by the National Gallery five years ago.
Its annual report from the time merely said that the picture had been bought in Switzerland "shortly after the Second World War".
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments