Lyla Lindsey
In 2001, Austria returned Gustav Klimt's Apfelbaum II (Apple Tree II) to the descendants of Nora Stiasny from Vienna's Belvedere museum. However, it was later determined that the painting Stiasny was forced to sell in 1938 was likely Rosen unter Baeumen (Roses Under Trees). In 2021, France agreed to return the correct painting to Stiasny's heirs, but the family had already sold Apple Tree II, and the current owners were unwilling to sell it. This mix-up sparked a debate in Vienna over the restitution of looted art and the question of whether the nation should seek to purchase the paintings at market value. Maria Altmann, an heir to the Bloch-Bauer family, also brought a suit against Austria and the Austrian National Gallery to recover six paintings by Klimt that were looted by the Nazis during World War II. Altmann's case resulted in a binding ruling that Austria must return five of the paintings, valued at over $150 million, to the heirs of the Jewish collector Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Paintings returned to | Maria Altmann |
| Paintings returned from | Austrian National Gallery |
| Paintings returned by | Austrian Government |
| Year of return | 2001 |
| Number of paintings returned | 5 |
| Names of paintings returned | Buchenwald, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Schloss Kammer am Attersee III, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, Apfelbaum I, Häuser in Unterach am Attersee, Amalie Zuckerkandl |
| Current status | Sold by the family |
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What You'll Learn
- Maria Altmann's family and the Austrian government reached a settlement
- Austria's restitution law was criticised as non-transparent
- The Austrian chancellor had no plans to buy back the paintings
- The wrong Klimt painting was returned to Stiasny's descendants
- The ruling sparked a debate over purchasing the paintings
Maria Altmann's family and the Austrian government reached a settlement
Maria Altmann, a Jewish woman living in Los Angeles, fought a lengthy legal battle with the Austrian government to reclaim several paintings by Gustav Klimt that were stolen by the Nazis from her late uncle, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a Viennese Jewish sugar magnate. The paintings, which included "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" and "Apfelbaum I", were hanging in Ferdinand's villa in Vienna when the Nazis claimed it in 1938, along with the sugar factory he directed. Ferdinand escaped to Switzerland, where he died, having recovered nothing. Maria fled to the United States.
The paintings eventually made their way to the Austrian National Gallery (ANG) by various routes, all having passed through the hands of a Nazi lawyer, Dr. Führer. Altmann alleged that the paintings were wrongfully taken three times: once by the Nazis, and twice by Austria. The first time by the Nazis, the second time when the ANG obtained title to the paintings through a 1948 acknowledgement of ownership by Ferdinand's heirs—which was given under the pressure of seeking export permits for the family's other art—and the third time when Austria required that the paintings be given to the ANG after the war, in exchange for export permits.
In 1998, articles by Czech journalist Hubertus Czernin revealed that "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" had come to the ANG not from Adele but from Mr. Führer, with a letter signed "Heil Hitler". Further research led Altmann to believe that Adele had not owned the paintings and had not given them to the ANG in her will. In 1998, Austria enacted a law requiring Austrian federal museums to return art that was acquired through forced "donations" from persons seeking export permits for other art they owned. The 1998 law also required the return of Nazi-looted art that had not been restituted. Hundreds of works of art were returned under the new law, including to the Austrian Rothschild family. However, in 1999, Altmann's claim for the Klimt paintings was rejected by the Austrian Art Advisory Board.
Altmann then brought suit in the United States against the Republic of Austria and the ANG to recover the paintings. Although the Supreme Court of the United States lifted Austria's jurisdictional immunity, the disputants reached an agreement to end the litigation and submit the dispute to arbitration in Austria. The arbitration panel ruled that Austria was obliged to return five of the Klimt masterpieces to Altmann. The Austrian government was allowed a period to raise enough money to buy the paintings back, but they had no plans to do so. The long fight for restitution appeared to have left Altmann with a dim view of the Austrian authorities.
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Austria's restitution law was criticised as non-transparent
In 1998, Austria enacted the "Art Restitution Act", which set up a "Commission for Provenance Research" to investigate all works of art acquired between 1938 and 1945 and owned by Austrian federal museums and collections. An amendment to the Act in 2009 expanded its scope to include all moveable cultural property owned by the Federation and confiscated in the German Reich between 1933 and 1945. The law deemed that any works of art that were not rightfully acquired would be returned to their previous owners or their heirs.
However, Austria's restitution law has been criticised for its lack of transparency. In 2016, a draft supplement to Austrian cultural patrimony legislation was criticised for retaining a paragraph that promised buyers "the undisturbed right to possess an object and to offer it on the international art market without later being confronted with claims for restitution." This has been interpreted as a failure to adequately address the issue of looted artifacts and provide a clear and efficient means of returning objects to their rightful owners.
The restitution process in Austria has also been marred by allegations of intransigence and a reluctance to return wrongly obtained art. In the case of the Klimt paintings claimed by Maria Altmann, there were accusations that Austria's decision to keep the paintings was based on outdated wishes expressed by the original owners before World War II. Altmann's claim for the Klimt paintings was rejected by the Austrian Art Advisory Board in 1999, leading her to pursue legal action in the United States.
The complexities and challenges of the restitution process in Austria highlight the need for a comprehensive and transparent legal framework. The Austrian government has recently proposed new restitution laws, recognising the importance of addressing historical injustices and establishing consistent protocols for restitution claims. These proposed laws aim to provide a more orderly and transparent process for addressing claims and ensuring the return of objects to their rightful owners.
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The Austrian chancellor had no plans to buy back the paintings
In 2006, the Austrian chancellor, Wolfgang Schussel, revealed that the government had no plans to buy back five Gustav Klimt paintings that were to be returned to the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The paintings, which had hung in the Austrian National Gallery (ANG), were the subject of an eight-year legal dispute between the Bloch-Bauer family and the Austrian government. The case went to the US Supreme Court, which lifted Austria's jurisdictional immunity, and was then sent to an arbitration court, which ruled that Austria was obliged to return the paintings.
The paintings in question were "Buchenwald" (1903), "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" (1907), "Schloss Kammer am Attersee III" (1910), "Adele Bloch-Bauer II" (1912), and "Apfelbaum I" (1912). They were among several important artworks owned by the Bloch-Bauers, who were Jewish, that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a Viennese Jewish sugar magnate, fled to Switzerland, where he died, having recovered none of his possessions.
The arbitration panel's decision sparked a debate in Vienna over whether the nation should seek to purchase the paintings at market value, as national treasures. On January 20, the paintings were removed from display after an Austrian who opposed such a purchase threatened to destroy them. The Austrian government was allowed a period to raise enough money to buy back the paintings, but Chancellor Schussel's statement indicated that they had no intention of doing so.
The Bloch-Bauer family's claim to the paintings was contested by the Austrian Art Advisory Board, which argued that Adele Bloch-Bauer had requested in her will that the paintings be donated to the ANG. However, Maria Altmann, a Los Angeles resident and heir to the Bloch-Bauer estate, argued that this was not the case and that the paintings had been wrongfully taken three times: once by the Nazis and twice by Austria. US federal courts agreed with her claim that Austria's requirement that the paintings be given to the ANG after the war, in exchange for export permits, was a wrongful violation of international law.
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The wrong Klimt painting was returned to Stiasny's descendants
In 2001, Austria returned Gustav Klimt's "Apfelbaum II" ("Apple Tree II") to the descendants of Nora Stiasny, believing it to be the painting she was forced to sell in 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed Austria. Stiasny was the niece of art collector Victor Zuckerkandl, and she was deported by the Nazis to the Izbica ghetto in Poland, where she was likely killed. However, experts later determined that the painting Stiasny sold was actually Klimt's "Rosen unter Baeumen" ("Roses Under Trees"). As a result, in 2021, France agreed to return "Roses Under Trees" to Stiasny's heirs from the Musee d'Orsay.
By the time the error was discovered, Stiasny's family had already sold "Apple Tree II," and the new owners were not interested in selling it back. This meant that Austria could not recover the correct painting. The junior minister for art and culture, Andrea Mayer, expressed disappointment that "Apple Tree II" could not be returned but was pleased that the issue of the painting's restitution was finally being resolved.
The Stiasny family's claim to "Roses Under Trees" was not without controversy. France acquired the painting from a Swiss gallery in 1980 for the Musee d'Orsay, unaware of its history. French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot acknowledged the difficulty of removing a Gustav Klimt masterpiece from the national collection but affirmed the country's obligation to restore looted items to their rightful owners.
The restitution of the Klimt paintings to the Stiasny family is just one example of the ongoing efforts to return artwork looted by the Nazis during World War II to their rightful owners. In another notable case, Maria Altmann, a Los Angeles resident and heir to the Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer estate, fought for the return of several Klimt paintings that had been plundered by the Nazis. While Altmann was successful in her claim for the return of some artworks, Austria's decision to retain five Klimt paintings, now housed in the Austrian Gallery in Vienna, sparked outrage and disappointment.
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The ruling sparked a debate over purchasing the paintings
The arbitration panel's ruling that Austria was obliged to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt stolen by the Nazis sparked a debate over whether the nation should seek to purchase the paintings at market value. The paintings were removed from display at the Austrian National Gallery (ANG) after an Austrian who opposed such a purchase threatened to destroy them.
The Austrian government was allowed a period to raise enough money to buy the paintings back. However, the government stated that they had no plans to do so, causing political and cultural uproar. Although various groups are still trying to raise funds, it seems unlikely that the paintings will return permanently to Vienna.
The paintings were originally owned by Viennese Jewish sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who lost his business to the Nazis and lived in exile in Zurich. The works are now housed in various Austrian museums and are considered national treasures. The most valuable item in the collection is Klimt's "The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer," one of the artist's celebrated "gold" paintings.
The debate over purchasing the paintings highlights the complex nature of restitution and the return of looted art. While some argue that the paintings should be bought back to preserve their cultural significance, others believe that the original owners or their heirs should be compensated fairly. The case has also brought attention to Austria's laws on restitution and the transparency of the decision-making process.
The Austrian government's decision not to purchase the paintings has been met with mixed reactions. While some support the idea of keeping the paintings in the country, others criticize the government's handling of the situation and the potential impact on future restitution claims. The debate continues as stakeholders weigh the historical, cultural, and financial aspects of the purchase.
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Frequently asked questions
After the return of Gustav Klimt's paintings to Austria, there was an emotionally-driven debate in the media and among the Austrian population about the notion of "loss". The Austrian society as a whole seemed to acknowledge the significance of this loss, debating the claim for restitution of stolen paintings as if discussing the loss of the people in the portraits, who were ostracized by the Nazis.
Many of Klimt's paintings were looted and destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. Some were lost, burned, or disappeared without a trace.
Yes, some of Klimt's paintings were recovered and returned to the heirs of the original Jewish owners. However, this process has been tangled and ongoing.
In 2006, a court ruled that the Belvedere Museum in Vienna must return the golden portrait of "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" to the heirs of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer, along with other Klimt works. In 2000, the restitution commission advised the return of the Belvedere Museum's "Apple Tree II" to the heirs of Nora Stiasny.
Some of Klimt's paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1945, including the Faculty Paintings: "Philosophy", "Medicine", and "Jurisprudence". While the exact number is unclear, it is estimated that at least ten of Klimt's works were lost in the fire.
