Norwegian museum agrees to return £12m Matisse painting looted by Goering to family of Jewish art dealer 

  • Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace returned to Paul Rosenberg's family
  • Centrepiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since 1968
  • Painting was taken by Goering after Rosenberg fled to New York in 1940
  • Norway is signatory of 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art

By Jill Reilly

Published: 08:27 EST, 21 March 2014 | Updated: 09:53 EST, 21 March 2014


A Norwegian museum says it has agreed to return a Matisse once looted by Hermann Goering to the family of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg.

The 1937 painting, Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace, has been the centrepiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since the museum was established in 1968 by shipping magnate Niels Onstad and his wife, Olympic figure-skating champion Sonja Henie.

The museum said in a statement that although it acquired the painting in good faith, it has 'chosen to adhere to international conventions and return the painting to Rosenberg's heirs.'

The 1937 painting, Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace, has been the centrepiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since the museum was established in 1968 by shipping magnate Niels Onstad and his wife, Olympic figure-skating champion Sonja Henie
Field Marshal Hermann Goering

A Norwegian museum says it has agreed to return Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace,  left, a Matisse once looted by Hermann Goering, right, to the family of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg

Norway is a signatory of the 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, which requires museums to review their collections for potentially looted works and when such a work is found, to try to locate rightful owners.

Niles Onstad was apparently unaware of its provenance

Niles Onstad was apparently unaware of its provenance

Now worth an estimated $20 million, the painting was taken by Goering after Rosenberg fled to New York in 1940, and sold to a Parisian art dealer later convicted of dealing in Nazi looted art.

It was acquired from a different French gallery in 1950 by Onstad, who was apparently unaware of its provenance.

The museum investigated the painting's past only after being notified by the Rosenberg family of their claim to it in June 2012.

The museum said that in the wake of the investigation - which it believes is the first of its kind undertaken in Norway - it has called upon the country's government to establish a committee to actually meet its obligations under the Washington Principles.

Similar reviews have been launched in the U.S., Netherlands and Germany.

'Ultimately, it was the strength of the moral claim that persuaded the Henie Onstad Art Center to restitute this painting unconditionally to the Rosenberg heirs,' said Chris Marinello of Art Recovery Group, a lawyer representing the family.

Yesterday a panel set up by the German government said a medieval treasure trove at the centre of a long-running ownership dispute should stay with a Berlin museum and not be given to the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers.

The recommendation on the fate of the Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, by a decade-old commission created to help resolve restitution claims isn't binding but carries strong moral weight.

The collection includes silver and gold crucifixes, altars, intricate silverwork and other relics. Some experts have estimated its current value at between 180 and 200 million euros ($248 and $276 million.

The medieval Dome Reliquary of the Welfenschatz, is displayed at the Bode Museum in Berlin. A panel set says a medieval treasure at the centre of a long-running ownership dispute should stay with a Berlin museum and not be given to the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers

The medieval Dome Reliquary of the Welfenschatz, is displayed at the Bode Museum in Berlin. A panel set says a medieval treasure at the centre of a long-running ownership dispute should stay with a Berlin museum and not be given to the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers

The heirs maintained that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian artifacts in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than their value.

The foundation that oversees Berlin's museums said the collectors weren't forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale.

In its recommendation, the commission wrote that, after thoroughly investigating the sale process, it came to the conclusion that it was not a "forced sale due to persecution." It said it can "not recommend the return of the Welfenschatz to the heirs of the four art dealers and other possible former co-owners."

The president of the museum foundation, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the panel's conclusion and praised it as a "thorough recommendation ... that considers all the facts." Representatives of the heirs weren't immediately available for comment.

Germany's culture minister, Monika Gruetters, said she hopes the Jewish heirs will accept the recommendation.

She said it "does not change ... the fact that the German government will continue to do everything to shed light on to the Nazis' art thefts and, when in doubt, will press for restitution."

The collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s and is currently at the city's Bode Museum, is considered the largest collection of German church treasure in public hands.

A medieval reliquary bust of St. Blaise, of the Welfenschatz. The heirs maintained that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian artifacts in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than their value

A medieval reliquary bust of St. Blaise, of the Welfenschatz. The heirs maintained that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian artifacts in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than their value


Comments 3

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.