Looted paintings at the Dorotheum

A pair of 18th century landscapes by Norbert Grund, a Bohemian artist, were looted by the Nazis in Holland in 1941 from a private family collection, and sent to Berlin. Sixty years later they re-appeared together at the Dorotheum, the state-owned auction house in Vienna, having been sent for sale by a vendor in Germany. The auction catalogue contained no provenance information, but the paintings were identical in size and composition to the missing works, images of which were held by the Commission.

The sale was scheduled to commence at noon on March 22, 2001. Through its research on behalf of the family, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe learned of the proposed sale on 19th March. At 10 am on the morning of the sale, the Dorotheum finally agreed, after considerable discussion with the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, to withdraw them from the auction. However, the Commission was subsequently informed by Interpol that the auction house was intending to return them to the German consignor.

Photographs of the Grund paintings submitted for auction to the Dorotheum

The Commission is aware that it is common practice amongst dealers and salerooms to return works with a suspect provenance to their consignor. After further negotiation with the Dorotheum, the auction house was persuaded to retain the paintings in safe custody. The Commission then finalised an agreement whereby the paintings were returned to their rightful owners.

Anne Webber, co-chair of the Commission, said: "We had great fears that the paintings would disappear again and are very pleased that the Dorotheum committed itself to retaining them and to finding an amicable and appropriate solution to this case. It is the first time this has happened in Austria, and it has set a precedent of good practice for auction houses everywhere."