Kudos to the British Library for agreeing to return a work that was part of a Nazi-era forced sale, removed by auction from a Munich gallery collection under duress. In Britain, an official Spoliation Advisory Panel exists to examine claims from anyone (including heirs) who lost possession of a cultural object during the Nazi era (1933-1945), when such objects are currently retained by a UK national collection. In this case, the claimants are the surviving heirs of the five former shareholders of a Munich art gallery, all of whom were of Jewish origin. Over two days in June 1936, that gallerys entire contents of paintings, drawings, statues, armoury, furniture, tapestries and carpets were sold by auction to meet an extortionate tax demand for 1935 made by the German tax authorities upon the Gallerys shareholders. The Biccherna Panel is attributed to Italian Renaissance painter Guidoccio Cozzarelli, who is known for his lush cityscapes, and depicts public officers proceeding on horseback through a palace gate. Panels like this one were used to cover documents in the Biccherna, the citys treasury. It was sold to an unidentified purchaser at auction and eventually made its way into the collection of the British Library in 1968. theartnewspaper/articles/British-Library-returns-painted-Renaissance-book-panel/33087 #arttheft #monumentsmen #WWII
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 02:14:04 +0000
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