Smithsonian Magazine · People & society

Art Institute of Chicago to Return Nazi-Looted Cubist Painting

The Art Institute of Chicago will return Jean Metzinger's 1913 painting "Woman With a Fan" to the heirs of its original owner, Emanuel Lewenstein, after research confirmed it was likely sold under duress during World War II.

New research, including infrared analysis, suggests the painting was seized from Lewenstein, a Jewish art collector, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1940. The painting was later auctioned in Amsterdam in May 1940, with proceeds and the exact circumstances of its transfer remaining unclear.

The Art Institute acquired the painting in 1959 and it has been part of their collection since, with limited exceptions for exhibitions. The museum's provenance research department used infrared imaging to identify a faint pencil inscription on the painting's reverse, revealing its prior ownership by art dealer Paul Citroen, who had sold it to Lewenstein in 1928.

Museum officials stated that in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the sale is considered a forced transaction due to Nazi persecution. This decision contrasts with the ongoing legal debate surrounding another artwork in the museum's collection, Egon Schiele's "Russian War Prisoner," which the museum asserts was sold by the family after the war, unlike the Metzinger painting.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.