Rare 17th century painting stolen by the Nazis to be returned to Jewish collector’s descendants - The Jewish Chronicle

The Tate is returning a rare Nazi-looted 17th-century painting to the descendants of its original Jewish art collector.

The painting, Aeneas and His Family Fleeing Burning Troy by Henry Gibbs, dated from 1654, was displayed in the art museum in London for more than three decades after being bought for the national collection using public funds.

When the Tate acquired the piece in Brussels in 1994, the museum called it a significant discovery of a previously unknown English painter and highlighted the rarity of surviving British narrative paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Tate’s director, Maria Balshaw, noted that while the painting’s provenance was thoroughly investigated at the time, crucial details about its prior ownership were not known. Reuniting the work to its rightful heirs was a “profound privilege,” she said.

Its return was recommended by the Spoliation Advisory Panel (SAP), which advises the government on claims for cultural property looted during the Nazi era. The SAP said the Nazis’ seizure of the painting from Antwerp-based Jewish collector Samuel Hartveld was “an act of racial persecution”.

Aeneas and His Family Fleeing Burning Troy by Henry Gibbs (Credit: Gov.uk)[Missing Credit]

It was one of more than 60 artworks taken from Hartveld in 1940 by the Nazis, who subsequently sold them.

Hartveld and his wife, Clara Meiboom, fled to the United States in 1940, leaving behind their extensive collection which was then sold by Nazi officer Heinrich Kunst to art restorer Rene Van den Broek, who was connected to a pro-Hitler Flemish organisation. It is believed that the rest of Hartveld’s collection is scattered across Europe in various galleries and private collections.

Hartveld and Meiboom also left behind their son Adelin, who was executed by the Nazis in 1942 after joining the Resistance.

Hartveld died in London in 1949 and Meiboom two years later, leaving her estate to their daughter Sonia Klein, who, in turn, passed it to her three grandchildren, Daniel, Mark and Barbara Floersheimer, who are now the owners of the painting.

The Tate Modern gallery on the southern bank of the River Thames, London (Credit: DANIEL SORABJI/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Daniel and Barbara said the decision to return the artwork “clearly acknowledges the awful Nazi persecution” of Samuel Hartveld.

SAP, which was set up by the government in 2000, said Hartveld’s heirs had approached it in May last year. It said the “legal and moral claims to the restitution of the painting were sufficiently compelling” for them to advise the government that they were entitled to the return of Gibbs’s work. The Tate agreed with the findings and accepted the recommendation without dispute.

Since its establishment, SAP has processed 23 claims, successfully returning 14 works to their rightful owners.

Aeneas and His Family Fleeing Burning Troy depicts scenes from Virgil’s Aeneid, which was seen by Gibbs as an allegory of the English Civil War and who is believed to have been an alderman and the mayor of Canterbury.

Topics:

looted art

Nazi

The Tate