Jewish family's painting looted by Nazis in 1933 is returned
Source: AP
By Michael Hill
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A painting of two young, 19th-century skaters that was looted by Nazis from a Jewish family in 1933 and recently discovered at a small museum in upstate New York was returned Thursday after 87 years.
The painting Winter by American artist Gari Melchers was part of a cache of more than 1,000 pieces of art and artifacts seized from the Mosse family, prominent and well-off Jewish residents of Berlin who became early targets of the Nazi Party. Heirs have been tenaciously seeking to recover the lost pieces for the past decade.
The Mosse family lost nearly everything because they were Jews. But they did not lose hope, acting U.S Attorney for the Northern District of New York Antoinette Bacon said at a repatriation ceremony at the Albany FBI office. While this certainly does not take away the pain the that the Mosses endured, I hope it provides the family with some measure of justice.
The Mosse Art Restitution Project was started in 2011 to locate and restitute the stolen artworks on behalf of the Mosse heirs. They have completed three dozen restitutions covering more than 50 items from public and private museums as well as private individuals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Israel and the United States.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-museums-albany-painting-377f76d519391ad1dae6e1f879454db5
3catwoman3
(23,973 posts)So much detail.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)not returned any stolen artwork.
SWBTATTReg
(22,112 posts)millions of paintings out there, which ones were stolen or not? But, to be fair, there hopefully are catalogs of stolen paintings (maybe, I don't know) that people can peruse. In any event, thank goodness the family got their painting back. A tragedy to begin with, and now some measure of restoration for the family in some small way (of course it doesn't go near restoring the horrible suffering at the hands of the Nazi in WW2).
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)most legitimate law enforcement agencies world wide.
Of course, I don't expect Czar Putin or Russian Czars to turn over their private collection (snark). Switzerland is another place where private vaults could hold stolen treasure.
SWBTATTReg
(22,112 posts)collections where some of these paintings are still hanging. A shame.
Take care and be safe!
appalachiablue
(41,127 posts)realize that Nazis were looting quite that early in their 'Reich.'