France will return a painting by Gustav Klimt, "Roses under the trees", to the beneficiaries of a family looted by the Nazi regime in 1938, in Austria.

The work was bought by the State in the 1980s, without knowing its background, for an exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay. 

"Our duty in the face of History".

France will return to a Jewish family a painting by Gustav Klimt which it had been despoiled by the Nazis in 1938, in Austria.

This work, called

"Roses under the trees"

and painted at the beginning of the 20th century, had been acquired by the State in the 1980s, which did not know its history, in order to be exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris.

Thanks to research, the route of the work has been reconstructed and the beneficiaries of the despoiled family have been able to request restitution.

Spoliation in 1938

The canvas was purchased in 1911 by the Austrian Jewish collector Viktor Zuckerkandl, under the name

"Roses"

("Rosen" in German).

She will wear others:

"Apple trees with roses"

and

"Landscapes"

.

The work remains in the family and belongs to his niece Nora Stiasny when the Nazis take power.

In August 1938, the forty-something persecuted and ruined because of her religion was forced to sell the painting for a derisory sum.

A few years later, she was deported and then murdered by the Nazi regime.

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In 1980, France acquired

"Roses under the trees"

from a Swiss art gallery, in order to exhibit the painting at the future Musée d'Orsay in Paris, devoted to the period 1848-1914.

It is thanks to the recent opening of archives in Austria and to the work of a historian that the history of the painting resurfaces.

"The Witness of Broken Lives"

"This work is today a witness of broken lives", proclaimed the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, during a press conference within her ministry.

"'

Roses under the trees'

is a painting, it cannot speak to us. And yet, it carries with it forever these tragic destinies. It is the last witness of these women and these men that a criminal and implacable will stubbornly sought to do away with ".

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"For me the restitution of looted Jewish property is an ardent obligation. (...) It is the honor of the Republic to do that. The honor of France," she added.

"This restitution is a fulfillment of our duty in the face of History", also assured Laurence des Cars, president of the Musée d'Orsay.

A bill to come

In the eyes of the current law, the painting cannot be transferred because it belongs to the national collections.

Nevertheless, Roselyne Bachelot promised to present "as soon as possible" a bill intended to authorize the release of the work to give it to the beneficiaries.

The restitution request, filed in 2019, should therefore be completed soon. 

>> READ ALSO - 

A Pissarro definitively returned to a family despoiled under the Occupation

The beneficiaries are the descendants of Nora Stiasny's sister, Hermine Müller-Hofmann, who escaped the Holocaust in Bavaria.