Restitutions Committee’s Advice: Return Artworks to Jewish Heirs
Artikel30 December 2021
The Restitutions Committee is recommending restitution of two paintings by the artist A. von Stadler to Isay’s Jewish heirs on the grounds of new facts.
The Restitutions Committee has advised the State Secretary for Culture and Media to restitute twelve antiquities to the heirs of the Jewish art dealer Mozes Mogrobi (1898-1944). The antiquities are part of the Netherlands Art Property (NK) Collection of the Dutch State.
A link between a number of objects and the Jewish art dealer Mozes Mogrobi was found during implementation of the Programme to Accelerate WWII Restitution Policy, under the auspices of which the provenance of the entire NK Collection is being reinvestigated. After the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency had told Mogrobi’s heirs about the new information relating to the objects, they submitted this restitution application.
The investigation revealed that Mozes Mogrobi had sold the antiquities to the Museum für Kunstgewerbe in Frankfurt am Main and St. Annen-Museum in Lübeck in April 1941 and July 1942 respectively. It is clear to the Committee that Mogrobi was experiencing the threat of the Nazi regime to a progressively greater degree when he was making these sales.
In order to answer the question of whether Mozes Mogrobi lost possession of the antiquities involuntarily due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime, in cases concerning art dealers the Restitutions Committee’s assessment framework makes a distinction between objects in an art dealer’s trading stock and objects in their private collection. Mogrobi was a passionate collector who exhibited objects from his collection in his gallery’s premises and lent them for exhibitions elsewhere.
In this case the Committee concluded, for reasons described in the recommendation, that the twelve antiquities had belonged to Mogrobi’s private collection. Regarding the question of whether there was involuntary loss of possession, on the grounds of the assessment framework Mozes Mogrobi can be designated as a private individual who belonged to a persecuted population group. In that case, loss of possession after 10 May 1940 is deemed to be involuntary unless there is evidence expressly showing otherwise. There is no such evidence.
The State Secretary for Culture and Media has adopted the Restitutions Committee’s recommendation and will restitute the twelve antiquities to the heirs of Mozes Mogrobi.
Relevant recommendation and summary: Mogrobi III
