danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

I am as sympathetic to the suffering of others as anyone, and I certainly don’t begrudge people their right to due process under law. That said, however, I am increasingly annoyed and displeased to read about claims on looted art by descendants of former owners.

This issue really came to my attention in a profound way several years ago when someone came forward with a claim that they were the rightful owner of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, a stunning painting by Gustav Klimt, and one of Austria’s greatest visual treasures. The claimant, Maria Altmann, was the niece of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy Viennese family who owned four other Klimt masterpieces: Adele Bloch-Bauer II, Apfelbaum I, Birkenwald, and Häuser in Unterach am Attersee. Altmann sued in the United States, where her case against Austria went all the way to the Supreme Court. She won, and Austria turned over the paintings, which, naturally, she sold, splitting up a priceless collection that had been the pride of the Schloss Belvedere. Adele Bloch-Bauer I was sold for an estimated $135 million and placed in the Neue Gallerie in New York. The rest sold at auction to anonymous bidders, and, in spite of Ms. Altmann’s hilariously insincere wish that the paintings remain on public display, they are now stashed away in private hands.

So I read this morning that heirs of a prominent Dutch art dealer are now claiming ownership of 225 paintings and two tapestries by Dutch, Flemish and Italian artists now hanging in museums in the Netherlands.

I do not deny that World War II wrought countless injustices, and that Nazi scum looted many works of art which now reside in public galleries throughout the world, though mostly in Europe. But should we draw the line somewhere for those claiming ownership of irreplaceable treasures? The war ended over 60 years ago, and these works of art have been on public display for generations now. When you consider that what those making claims really want is money, I find it hard to be sympathetic. They are not seeking the restitution of some family heirloom. The governments and museums who now posses this disputed art should investigate these claims, and, if it is deemed prudent, they should pay a fair sum of money to the claimants. But masterpieces of art belong to humanity, and that works now hanging in museums for all to enjoy might end up on the wall of some crooked Russian billionaire, or crazy Japanese businessman, is a notion that should offend anyone who loves that which is beautiful.

Filed under: Art, Current Events, Rantings on September 26th, 2007