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DIA compensates Jewish family for stolen art.

ART SLEUTHS

Photos by Diana Lieberman

A little-known chapter of the Holocaust is
uncovered at Hillel Day School.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
StaffWriter

T

he great museums of the world own
many works of art that rightfully
belong to the descendents of Jewish
families killed or forced to flee their
homes during the Holocaust.
And, according to Marc Masurovsky, an interna-
tional expert on art looted by the Nazis, most
museum directors and curators know full well that
these items aren't legally theirs — yet they refuse to
do anything about it.
.
A co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution
Project (HARP), Masurovsky gave a hands-on
presentation to Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit upper-schoolers, fol-
lowed by a more derailed talk to
their teachers. The May 29 event
was sponsored by Hillel's Walter
Cykiert Holocaust Education
Fund.
No matter how a work of art is
acquired, if it was ever stolen it
cannot legally belong to a new
owner, Masurovsky told the sev-
Masurovsky
enth- and eighth-graders. "Theft

does not convey title," he
Aymed with
said, comparing the purchase
a
list
of criteria
of a work of art to that of a
and
a
glossal),
of
house.
art
terms,
Hillel
Before they can legally buy
eighth-graders try
a house, potential homeown-
to determine
ers first must perform a title
i
fa painting
search, he explained. This
was stolen.
search determines the proper-
ty's ownership history and
whether every transaction was legitimate.
In the same way, art dealers, collectors and muse-
ums must search out the ownership history of
every work they intend to buy.
"If something was ever stolen, all subsequent
sales are illegal until the art work gets back to the
owner, or to their descendents," Masurovsky said.
"Until then, its not a legal transaction, and you're
an accomplice."
Looted art can be found in bank vaults and in
private collections as well as in museums.
"There are two markets in the art world — and
only 20 percent is out in the open," Masurovs
said. "The other 80 percent is a parallel market. Art
goes from castle to castle, from bank vault to bank

ART SLEUTHS

on page 30

DIANA LIEBERMAN

SteeWriter

I

t took more than 60 years but, thanks to the Detroit
Institute of Arts, a Jewish family has been compensated for
a valuable painting stolen during the Holocaust.
The painting, A Man-O-War and Other Ships OffThe
Dutch Coast, is the work of Dutch artist Ludolf Backhuysen
(1631-1708). More than a year ago, George Keyes, the DINs
curator of European paintings, had the work shipped to Detroit
for further study pending acquisition.
According to a DIA press release, Trafalgar Galleries, a London
art dealer, had purchased the painting at auction in Germany as
"in the style or a copy of Backhuysen." Cleaning revealed the
artist's signature and the date 1692, and extensive research in the
Netherlands traced its ownership history up to 1935, when it was
sold at Christie's in London to an Amsterdam art dealer.
The DIA researched the history of the painting and, along with
Trafalgar Galleries, hired Art Loss Register, the largest private
international database of stolen, missing and looted works of art,
to investigate the work's ownership.
It turned out that the work had been the property of a Jewish
collector. In May 1942, a decree forced Dutch Jews to relinquish
their artworks, precious metals and jewelry to the Bank of
Lippman, Rosenthal & Company, a Nazi-controlled clearing-
house for the administration of Jewish property.
The bank acquired the painting in August 1942 and, in
October 1942, it was sold to Kajetan Mahlmann, the chief figure
responsible for the looting of cultural property by the Nazis in
Poland and the Netherlands.
Last year, five heirs to the Jewish owner were located, and they
agreed to take a monetary settlement for the painting.
"We are delighted with the outcome," said Graham W. J. Beal,
DIA director. "Not only has the DIA added a wonderful painting
to its collection but, equally important, our purchase of the paint-
ing enabled the fair compensation of the heirs of the rightful
owner. .
This was the second time the DIA has found it was in posses-
sion of looted art. In 1950, the museum returned a valuable
painting by Claude Monet to its rightful owner in France.
The DIA now exhibits the Backhuysen seascape in its recently
installed Dutch Galleries. I 1

Artist Ludolf Backhuysen .l. A Man-O-War and Other Ships Off
The Dutch Coast.

6/13

2003

29

