Belgium to return Nazi-looted painting to German Jewish family
BRUSSELS — Belgium will return a painting to the family of a German Jewish couple from whom it was stolen after they fled Germany during World War II, the government research department said Wednesday.
“Blumenstilleben,” or “Still life with Flowers,” was painted
in 1913 by Lovis Corinth and has been kept in the collection of the Royal
Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, alongside around 30 other works thought to
have been stolen during World War II.
After decades of analysis and research, experts have
concluded that the painting was looted from a warehouse by officials of the
German occupation, from goods owned by German Jewish refugees.
Gustav and Emma Mayer were forced to part with some of their
belongings as they made their way to England, and a crate containing the
painting was stolen from storage at the beginning of the war.
In a letter sent on May 26 to the German lawyers of the
couple’s grandchildren, Belgian secretary of state Thomas Dermine officially
confirmed the Belgian state’s agreement to hand back the piece.
The Mayer family was already compensated for the loss of its
property by German authorities in the 1960s, and so the relatives will be asked
to pay 4,100 euros, the estimated cost of the painting.
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