155/04
24 November 2004
Spoliation Advisory Panel Recommends Restitution Of Painting Lost During Nazi Era
A painting, part of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, was looted during the Nazi era and must be returned to its rightful owner, an independent panel today ruled. The picture - Still Life, formerly attributed to the 18th century artist Chardin – was seized from an auction house in 1936 and was acquired - in good faith - by the Burrell collection eight years later.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel has recommended that, subject to any legal impediments imposed by the donor, Glasgow City Council should return the work to the claimants, who wish to remain anonymous. The painting was donated to the Council's predecessor, the Corporation of the City of Glasgow, by the collector Sir William Burrell and his wife in 1944.
Arts Minister Estelle Morris said:
"It is important that questions of ownership arising from the terrible events of the Nazi era are resolved. I believe that the Panel's recommendation is the most appropriate way to proceed. The Panel have thoroughly examined the claim and I am persuaded by the arguments put forward by the Panel. Furthermore, this Government is committed to the declaration from the Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets in December 1998 and at the London Conference on Nazi Gold in December 1987, both of which addressed the issue of looted works of art.
"The British public would be unhappy to know that a museum in this country contained a work which had been identified as being wrongfully separated from its rightful owners, and nothing had been done to right that wrong. We can all take pride that the UK has a proud record in fighting fascism and offering assistance to those people who fled from the horrors of Nazi Germany during the Second World War."
Patricia Ferguson, MSP Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport at the Scottish Executive has today confirmed that it is now a matter for Glasgow City Council to resolve.
This is the second Report of the Panel, which is chaired by retired Lord Justice of Appeal, the Rt Hon Sir David Hirst. The Panel was set up in February 2000 to help resolve claims from people – or their heirs – who lost cultural objects during the Nazi era, which are now held by UK collections.
Notes to Editors
2. The then Arts Minister Alan Howarth announced the setting up of a Panel to help resolve claims on art looted during the Nazi era on 17 February 2000 (DCMS News Release 35\2000) and the full membership of the Panel on 13 April (DCMS News Release 84\2000).
The Declaration of Principles agreed at the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets of December 1998 states, among the other principles, that:
- pre-War owners and their heirs should be encouraged to come forward and make known their claims to art confiscated by the Nazis and not subsequently restituted;
- if the pre-War owners of art that is found to have been confiscated by the Nazis and not subsequently restituted, or their heirs, can be identified, steps should be taken expeditiously to achieve a just and fair solution, recognising this may vary according to the facts and circumstances surrounding a specific case.
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