[MSN] FW: Press release Restitutions Committee: Second binding advice on restitution of Toorop painting

[MSN]

The Hague, 17 April 2008

SECOND BINDING ADVICE ON RESTITUTION OF TOOROP PAINTING 

The Zeeuwse Museum Foundation is required to return the painting entitled A
Prayer Before Supper by Jan Toorop to the heirs to the estate of the former
owner upon payment by the heirs of EUR 121,500 to the Zeeuwse Museum
Foundation (hereafter referred to as ‘the Museum’). Should the heirs decide
to sell the work within the next ten years, they will be obliged to offer it
for sale to the Museum first. This is the second binding advice issued by
the Restitutions Committee, which issues recommendations on claims to looted
works of art. 

The binding advice concerns a dispute about the ownership of A Prayer Before
Supper, which is currently part of the collection of the Zeeuws Museum in
Middelburg (the Netherlands). The dispute is between the grandchildren of
the Jewish owner, who lost possession of the painting in or around 1938, and
the Museum, which purchased the painting in 1981. 

A Prayer Before Supper was owned by Jewish businessman and art collector
Ernst Flersheim in Frankfurt am Main. From 1933 on, his family suffered
increasingly from anti-Semitic measures imposed by the Nazi regime in
Germany, which caused the family to flee the country. In or around 1938, a
number of works of art from the Flersheim collection that had remained
behind in Germany were confiscated by the Gestapo, including the piece
entitled A Prayer Before Supper. Decades later, in 1981, the Museum
purchased the painting from a Dutch art dealer.

In its advice, the Committee finds that the painting should be returned to
the Flersheim heirs due to the fact that Flersheim lost possession of the
painting involuntarily, the deep emotional importance of the return to the
grandchildren and their offer to repay the purchase price to the Museum. The
Committee also finds that when the painting was purchased in 1981, the
Museum was in no way guilty of acting unconscientiously. The Committee
believes it to be reasonable and fair that the heirs pay EUR 121,500 to the
Museum. This is the sum paid by the Museum for the purchase of the painting
in 1981 (NLG 150,000), indexed according to the general price index. The
Committee also stipulates that if the Flersheim heirs decide to sell the
painting within a period of ten years, they will be obliged to offer it for
sale to the Museum first.

The Restitutions Committee
Since January 2002, the Restitutions Committee has provided recommendations
to the Minister for Education, Culture and Science regarding 58 claims to
items of cultural value in the possession of the national government. In
addition, the Committee can also issue binding advice in accordance with
Section 2, subsection 2 of the Decree establishing the Advisory Committee on
the Assessment of Restitution Applications concerning disputes between two
parties over an item of cultural value that is not in the possession of the
national government. Such advice is given on the basis of what is
‘reasonable and fair’. This is the second time that such binding advice has
been given. Use the following link to access the complete version of the
binding advice in this case (RC 3.45), which can be found on the website:
http://www.restitutiecommissie.nl/en/rc_3.45/bindend_advies_rc_3.45.html 


More information:
For more information, please contact Evelien Campfens, secretary/rapporteur
of the Restitutions Committee on +31(0)70 376 59 92.



Restitutions Committee 
Lange Voorhout 9
PO Box 556
2501 CN  The Hague 
The Netherlands
T +31 70 376 5992
F +31 70 362 9654
E info at restitutiecommissie.nl
www.restitutionscommittee.org