In France, during the Second World War, approximately 100,000 works of art were looted from Jews by the Nazis. Paintings, sculptures, works of art, sometimes musical instruments… stolen, looted, and which had to be found and returned after the war. Nearly 80 years after the Liberation, some works have still not found their owner, or rather the descendants of their owner.
Historians devote their careers to tracking down these works, which are often exhibited for all to see in museums. Identifying them, proving their spoliation, and then returning them, is painstaking work that can take years. (Replay)
A smell of tobacco wafts through May Monteux’s living room. The room is not so small, but it seems cramped: it is cluttered with furniture, the shelves are overflowing with books, sculptures, trinkets. Every square centimeter of wall is covered with paintings, some of which have a particular history: they were stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Their owner was Marcel Monteux, May’s grandfather. This art collector was robbed because he was Jewish. “ He was arrested, interned in the Drancy camp on July 31, 1944 and deported to Auschwitz, by convoy n°77, says her granddaughter, sitting in front of a cup of coffee and old photographs. He was unlucky, because the next day there was a railway strike and the trains did not leave. He died as soon as he arrived, he caught typhus and did not survive. Today, May, 90, continues the fight of her grandmother, her “idol” who, at the Liberation, succeeded in having many works of art which belonged to Marcel Monteux returned. The collector is himself immortalized on a canvas: an elegant young man, in a suit and bow tie, poses with a cigar and a newspaper. The painting sits in May’s living room, opposite the sofa.
To find the looted works that did not return to her family, the retiree is helped by historian Emmanuelle Polack, a specialist in the art market under the Occupation. They have, for this, peeled the family archives, helped in particular by the notes: “ She had a rather vague list, because my grandfather, her husband, was very playful, very gambler, smiles mischievously May. For example, when he borrowed money, he pledged a painting. So when in doubt, she had made a list. A sort of inventory, then, of the collection of Marcel Monteux.
Thanks to these notes scribbled on yellowed paper, May and Emmanuelle Polack were able to find additional evidence to get a painting returned: Riverside reflected in water by Camille Bombois. This painting hangs in a museum in Passau, Germany. The historian had spotted this painting, the provenance of which was suspect, during her work. She then became closer to the descendant of the collector. A second painting, exhibited in the same German museum, has also been identified as belonging to the Monteux family, it also represents Jean-Paul Monteux, May’s father, painted by Maurice Denis. These are therefore two works that have been found and should be returned in the coming weeks.
” A great raid »
When he came to power in 1933, Hitler wasted no time in setting up spoliations of works of art or other property, particularly targeting Jews. In France, from the summer of 1940, ” there is a big raidexplains Emmanuelle Polack, expert on the subject. About 450 cases [remplies d’œuvres d’art, NDLR] will go to the German Embassy. Very quickly, there will not be enough space, the Louvre will offer three rooms, then it is finally the Jeu de Paume museum which will become the place for storing the looted works. “.
At the Liberation, 60,000 looted cultural objects returned to France, thanks to the work of resistance fighter Rose Valland. A large part could be returned, but around 2,000 paintings, sculptures, works of art whose owner could not be identified or found, were entrusted to French museums. ” These works do not belong to national museums, says Emmanuelle Polack. They are only its only protectors. It is up to them to continue the provenance research. »
“ memory work »
For several years, the historian has been helping the Louvre Museum to restore, in its collections, works identified as looted, or whose provenance is suspect. It accompanies the curators of the departments in their research, directs them in particular to archival funds which could provide evidence, for example an auction catalog under the Occupation which would attest to a forced sale.
But the search for provenance becomes more complicated from year to year: the owners of the works, or their descendants, disappear, or are unaware that their family has been the victim of spoliation. Emmanuelle Polack is aware of this: “ We will never be able to restore all the works, but what is very important is to do this work of memory. It seems to me that we owe it to the memory of the victims of the exactions of the Second World War. »
Today, in France, even when a work is identified as looted from a French museum, it is necessary to go to court to restore it, because the national collections are inalienable. It is therefore necessary to create a derogation from the law for each work. But this situation could soon change: this year, the Parliament could adopt a framework law facilitating restitutions.