February 10, 2019
The man who’s grandfather’s art was looted by the Nazis
In this and the next three posts, I’ll look briefly at the current state of restitution of Nazi looted art in the UK.
The first case in this story is not in the UK, but it makes a good introduction, by setting a clear context of how some people are only now trying to retrieve looted works and why they are doing so.
The quest to retrieve the Degas painting began in 1995 and became the first Nazi loot case to be settled in the USA. This is a reminder of how far we have managed to come in a few years. Museum attitudes are shifting, although not every country moves at the same pace.
Below is a summary of the story. Make sure you click through to it to listen to the entire two minute radio clip though.
Simon Goodman standing next to the portrait of his great-grandfather Eugen Gutmann, painted by the German artist Franz von Lenbach (1836-1904). Credit: Laura Hubber
From:
BBC World Service
My grandfather’s art was looted by the Nazis
08 February 2019After the death of his father, Simon Goodman embarked on a 20-year mission to reclaim the world class artworks his German-Jewish ancestors had collected before World War Two.
Simon’s landmark discovery of the Degas painting ‘Landscape with Smokestacks’, which had once belonged to his family, became the first Nazi art looting case to be settled in the United States.
- Painting returned to family of holocaust victims by Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum : February 18, 2011
- Leopold Museum settlement to allow them to keep Nazi looted Schiele painting : June 19, 2012
- Austrian commission rules that Nazi looted art should be returned : December 30, 2010
- Nazi loot in UK set to be returned : July 13, 2009
- SCOTUS rules against Norton Simon Museum looted art apeal : January 22, 2015
- Nazi looted artefacts in the UK can now return home : December 4, 2009
- Feldmann case redux? New settlement reached between nazi loot heirs & British Museum : October 22, 2013
- Holocaust looted art bill will allow de-acessioning of some artefacts : November 29, 2009