The National Gallery investigates wartime provenance of 120 paintings (Q98594470)
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| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | The National Gallery investigates wartime provenance of 120 paintings |
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The National Gallery investigates wartime provenance of 120 paintings (English)
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The Art Newspaper believes that the following eight pictures out of the list of 120 warrant particular attention because they appear to have been on the Continent in unknown collections during the 1930s. There is no evidence, at present, though that they were looted. (English)
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o BOSSCHAERT “Flowers in a vase”. When bequeathed by Edward Speelman in 1994, the NG stated that “nothing is known of its early provenance before it was purchased by Speelman in Switzerland shortly after World War II.” Recent inquiries suggest that before Speelman bought it, the picture was probably in the collection of a Canadian family near Genoa. It was with the Kurt Meissner Gallery in Zurich by the 1960s. (English)
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o COQUES(IMITATOR) Portrait of a woman. This belonged to Elizabeth Carstairs, the widow of Charles Carstairs, chairman of the Knoedler Gallery of New York and London. Mrs Carstairs died in 1949 in Paris and the painting was bequeathed to the NG in 1952. Nothing is known of its earlier provenance. On the back of the picture is a seal with an inscription in Hebrew, which has not been identified. (English)
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o COURBET Still-life with apples. This belonged to the collection of Raphaël Gérard in Paris and next appeared at the Daber Gallery in Paris in 1949. The 1946 report on dealers involved in handling looted art, prepared by the Office of Strategic Services of the US War Department, listed the Paris-based Daber Gallery, although the comments should be treated with caution (The Art Newspaper, No. 88, January 1999, p. 11). The declassified document states on Daber: “Reported to have indicated to the Germans the whereabouts of Jewish collections in France. Alleged to have held a German pass which permitted him to travel throughout France during the occupation.” The picture was purchased by the NG in 1951. (English)
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o COURBET Still-life with apples. This belonged to the collection of Raphaël Gérard in Paris and next appeared at the Daber Gallery in Paris in 1949. The 1946 report on dealers involved in handling looted art, prepared by the Office of Strategic Services of the US War Department, listed the Paris-based Daber Gallery, although the comments should be treated with caution (The Art Newspaper, No. 88, January 1999, p. 11). The declassified document states on Daber: “Reported to have indicated to the Germans the whereabouts of Jewish collections in France. Alleged to have held a German pass which permitted him to travel throughout France during the occupation.” The picture was purchased by the NG in 1951.o DELACROIX Christ on the Cross. In the collection of Jules Strauss in the 1920s, and auctioned by him on 15 December 1932. It then passed into an unknown collection and reappeared at the Daber Gallery in Paris in 1975, which sold it to the NG the following year. (English)
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o MONET Petit Bras of the Seine. This was owned by two unidentified owners, Laederich and then Turckheim, before being acquired by the Arthur Tooth Gallery in London in 1955. Bequeathed to the NG in 1971. (English)
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o VAN DE VELDE Ships in a calm. The Van de Velde catalogue raisonné by M.S. Robinson suggests that this seascape may have been “in the art trade in Basel in 1942 and in the collection of Professor Ruzicka, Zurich, in 1947”, but admits that this is uncertain. In 1948 it was with Agnew’s, London, which had bought it from the Edward Speelman Gallery in London, which in turn had probably purchased it from J.S. McKay of Hythe. The Van de Velde was presented to the NG in 1981. M.B. (English)