Painting finally returned to heirs

THE heirs of a German-Jewish industrialist, forced by the Nazis to sell his art collection, will have an artwork returned following a landmark decision by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

The painting, Head of a Man, has been in the NGV’s collection since 1940 and was thought to have been painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1887 and worth $5 million.

However, in 2007 Dutch experts at the Van Gogh Museum determined that it was not painted by the Dutch master and it was revalued at about $200,000.

In December 2013, the NGV received a request under a worldwide restitution agreement for the return of the artwork from the lawyer for two South African women who are the legal heirs of Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel, who lived in Germany in the 1930s and had auctioned the painting at a reduced price after fleeing Berlin, in order to pay taxes levied on Jews leaving Germany.

The painting changed hands several times between its sale by Semmel and its purchase by the NGV in 1940.

Last week, the NGV agreed to the restitution request saying in a statement: “The NGV takes its responsibilities seriously in regard to determining the history of ownership of works of art, including the period from 1933 to 1945 when systematic looting, the confiscation of artworks, and persecutory anti-Semitic policies occurred under Nazi rule.”

It is believed to be the first case of its kind in Australia involving the restitution of an item from a forced sale in Nazi Germany.

Jewish Holocaust Centre executive director Warren Fineberg commended the action of the current NGV management in returning the painting, but was critical that it had taken 70 years to return what he described as a “stolen” artwork.

“In 1940 the gallery should have done more work on checking the provenance of works that they were buying that came out of the Holocaust era,” he said.

Fineberg said Australian galleries should be proactive in assessing artworks’ provenance.

Head of a Man is one of up to 50 works held in the NGV’s collection that were sold in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s and whose provenance is being scrutinised.

DANNY GOCS

The painting, Head of a Man.