The painting in question is “The Penitent Magdalene” by Adriaen van der Werff, a Dutch Baroque painter, from 1707. It was sold at auction in London in 2005 for £60,000.
Six years ago, the buyer contacted Christie’s with the intention of reselling the painting. That time, the auction house searched the Répertoire des biens spoliés, a register established after World War II of looted art – and there the painting was listed.
Christie’s then got in touch with the surviving family of the then owner Lionel Hauser, a Parisian banker from a Jewish family who was a cousin and close friend of the writer Marcel Proust. Hauser reported at the end of the war in 1945 that the Nazi occupation forces broke into and stole from his store on October 23, 1942.
The case resulted in a lawsuit, where a court in Paris has now sided with the family and ordered Christie’s to return the painting without reservation. The family is delighted with the verdict but admits concerns about whether it will be enforced, citing questions about jurisdiction and Britain’s exit from the EU.
Christie’s opposes the verdict but states that it has not appealed and will instead seek settlement.