An El Greco Seized by Nazis Returns to Owner’s Family

An El Greco painting, one of several dozen from a collection of Old Masters previously belonging to a Viennese industrialist and seized by the Gestapo in Vienna in 1938, has been returned to the family of its former owner after a swift process of recovery, thanks to a cooperative dealer.

The painting, “Portrait of a Gentleman,” was known to have been sold to a dealer in New York in the 1950s, but attempts to reach him proved unsuccessful and the work was able to change hands several times over the next 60 years, before resurfacing again for sale in New York, the institutions that helped facilitate the recovery said.

Anne Webber, of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which represented the heirs of the former owner, Julius Priester, and put in a claim for the work said the case was as an example of the extent to which art traders have been involved in the disposal of works looted by the Nazis, and how swiftly they can be returned if those dealers are willing to cooperate.

“In this particular case, everybody knew where it had gone,” Ms. Webber said Monday in a telephone interview from London. “Everybody knew that it had gone to New York, but it proved impossible to recover it.”

While governments and museums have faced the issue of the Nazis’ looting of art owned by Jews, art dealers and private collectors are not bound by the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, signed by 45 countries in 1998. Even the existence of databases documenting looted works is of little use unless the parties possessing the works cooperate.

Mr. Priester, who fled Vienna in 1938, ending up in Mexico City, began searching for the collection he had entrusted to the care of a friend immediately after the end of World War II. Before his death in 1954 he worked together with the Austrian authorities to try to recover works, relying on documentation and photographs of them.

One image shows the El Greco portrait of a bearded man, leaning on a book with his left hand across his chest and a deep, reflective gaze, hanging above the sideboard in the formal dining room of the Priesters’ prewar home. It was returned to the family, in Britain, in the same frame as appeared in the picture, Ms. Webber said.

In the case of the El Greco the dealer, who has not been identified, responded swiftly to the claim submitted by the commission and the process of recovery took only a matter of months, instead of years, as is often the case, Ms. Webber said.

The dealer was given the opportunity to be named and to comment for a news release, but wished to remain anonymous because he has no desire for personal praise and is content knowing that he has done the right thing, his representatives said.

From The New York Times

84 Comments

1. Pingback: viagra delivered overnight

2. Pingback: cialis from canada

3. Pingback: price of cialis

4. Pingback: cialis price

5. Pingback: Discount viagra without prescription

6. Pingback: Brand viagra professional

7. Pingback: albuterol inhaler generic usa

8. Pingback: india generic viagra lowest price

9. Pingback: online cialis sales

10. Pingback: ciprofloxacin hcl 500 mg

11. Pingback: cialis online canada

12. Pingback: is there a generic for cialis

13. Pingback: naltrexone over the counter usa

14. Pingback: cialis black

15. Pingback: levitra vs cialis

16. Pingback: how long does viagra last

17. Pingback: buy generic 100mg viagra online

18. Pingback: where to buy tylenol arthritis

19. Pingback: chloroquine purchase online

20. Pingback: cheap viagra

21. Pingback: viagra generic

22. Pingback: best ed pills

23. Pingback: erectile dysfunction drug

24. Pingback: cheap erectile dysfunction pills online

25. Pingback: buy hydroxychloroquine online uk

26. Pingback: online pharmacy

27. Pingback: Buy cialis

28. Pingback: generic levitra

29. Pingback: vardenafil usa

30. Pingback: walmart viagra 100mg price

31. Pingback: parx casino online

32. Pingback: viagra vs cialis

33. Pingback: play for real online casino games

34. Pingback: buy viagra online

35. Pingback: pala casino online

36. Pingback: casino games online

37. Pingback: generic cialis at walmart

38. Pingback: canada meds viagra

39. Pingback: quick cash loans

40. Pingback: bimatoprost ophthalmic solution for lashes

41. Pingback: cialis cheap online

42. Pingback: instant loans

43. Pingback: personal loans

44. Pingback: viagra cost

45. Pingback: cheapest 100mg viagra delivered overnight

46. Pingback: generic cialis

47. Pingback: gambling casino online

48. Pingback: casino online games for real money

49. Pingback: cialis buy

50. Pingback: best live casino bonuses

51. Pingback: cialis 5 mg

52. Pingback: best real money online casinos

53. Pingback: danae

54. Pingback: cialis 5 mg

55. Pingback: 20 cialis

56. Pingback: cialis to buy

57. Pingback: cheap 25mg viagra

58. Pingback: generic viagra names

59. Pingback: free slots online

60. Pingback: online casino games for real money

61. Pingback: casino games win real money

62. Pingback: online casino games

63. Pingback: viagra for sale

64. Pingback: generic viagra india

65. Pingback: viagra generic name

66. Pingback: viagra samples

67. Pingback: purchase viagra online

68. Pingback: buy tadalafil online

69. Pingback: canadian pharmacy viagra

70. Pingback: generic viagra online

71. Pingback: levitra

72. Pingback: buy cialis online overnight shipping

73. Pingback: online viagra

74. Pingback: cialis generic

75. Pingback: generic viagra without subscription walmart

76. Pingback: tadalafil 10 mg

77. Pingback: casino slot

78. Pingback: online casino gambling

79. Pingback: where can i buy cheap viagra in australia

80. Pingback: http://droga5.net

81. Pingback: where can i buy viagra cheap online

82. Pingback: order cialis online

83. Pingback: where can i buy real viagra online yahoo answers

84. Pingback: cheapest generic cialis