Musée Rolin, a collecting institution located in Autun, France, aided the return of a 16th-century painting, dubbed "Adam and Eve," by Dutch artist Cornelis Van Helm after the piece was looted by Nazi officers, as reported by the Art Newspaper.
The piece was given back to the daughter-in-law of its original owner Dutch-Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker, Marei von Saher, after a museum personnel at the France institution had obtained the piece as a donation. The staff reportedly noticed an identifying tag on the back frame of the work, which pointed at Goudstikker as its owner.
The museum, through the help and guidance of the art law firm Kaye Spiegler, communicated with the unnamed donor to facilitate its return to the last-standing heir of the late Dutch collector.
According to a statement supported by the law firm, as posted on Instagram, the family who tried to donate the painting was "unaware" of its history and provenance, and was willing to strike a deal with the museum for its reinstatement with the rightful owner.
Following the resolution with the donors, the Musée Rolin held a formal ceremony on Dec. 13 which honored Van Helm's painting along with the individuals who were instrumental in its return.
Yaél Weitz, the attorney assigned to the case, told the Observer: "The museum really acted in the way that you want museums to be acting; they flagged it, they contacted the family, they were doing the right thing to resolve this in a fair and correct way."
Weitz added that the France institution's conduct in dealing with the incident is something the law firm "hopes" other museums will follow when met with similar cases.
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History of the 'Adam and Eve' Painting
Goudstikker's collection was comprised of an estimated 1,400 pieces from the 19th century, including works by a variety of old masters.
However, in 1940, due to circumstances tied to his heritage, the Dutch art dealer had to flee the war raging in Europe and consequently passed away whilst trying to cross the English Channel on a cargo ship.
That said, Goudstikker's wife and son were able to successfully take refuge in North America, but his extensive collection was unfortunately seized by Hermann Goring, second-in-command of Hitler, through an involuntary transaction.
In 2006, a handful of these wrongfully procured art pieces were repatriated back to the Dutch government, which in turn, returned approximately 200 of the artworks to Von Saher.
The last-standing heir had worked for over eight years to get the collection back and had tracked the individual pieces with the help of a black notebook that was originally Goudstikker's.
