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(Hitler speaking foreign language)
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(crowd roaring)
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- Property rights are an important portion
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of civilized society.
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(overlapping voices speaking)
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- [Narrator] The Gurlitt Affair
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gave worldwide prominence to
the still discreet history
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of Nazi looted works of art.
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1,500 canvases were found buried
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in a Munich apartment,
among them were works
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by Matisse, Chagall, and Renoir.
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- [Interpreter] The story made the subject
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of the hidden, stolen,
and looted works of art
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seem like some sort of mini-drama,
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like a riveting detective story,
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whereas in fact, it was
part of a whole process
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of dehumanization and
deculturalization of Europe.
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- [Narrator] The Bern Museum of Fine Arts
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was designated custodian
of what was called
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the Gurlitt Collection.
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It is now therefore up to the museum
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to reveal what happened to the works
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and to restore them to
their legitimate owners.
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Amidst the history of
betrayal, power, money,
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and fascination for art,
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Hitler had also undertaken
a Nazification of Europe
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through an art genocide.
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(crowd roaring)
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(light instrumental music)
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The looting of works
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is one of the last unresolved outcomes
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of the Second World War.
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100,000 works of art were stolen,
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and one million books were
destroyed in France alone.
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This is the story of three works of art,
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three major paintings stolen
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from three leading European collectors.
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The Woman in Blue in Front of
a Fireplace by Henri Matisse,
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belonging to Paul Rosenberg,
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Wilted Sunflowers, also
known as Autumn Sun II,
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by Egon Schiele, owned by
Austrian collector Karl Grunwald,
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and Man with a Guitar by Georges Braque,
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belonging to Alphonse Kann.
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Three works symbolizing
the genre of modern art
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qualified by the Nazis
as a degenerate art,
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the art that Hitler took upon himself
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to totally eradicate in the name
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of purification of culture,
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whilst at the same time,
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using it as a form of currency.
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- The way that they would use
the looted art was important.
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I think you had categories,
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like everything in Nazism.
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You had the good art,
which was classical art.
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It would go either to Hitler's collection
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to the German museum collections
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or to Goring's collection.
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Then you had another type of art
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like Impressionism that could go
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to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
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the embassies, the German embassies,
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and then you had degenerate art.
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Degenerate art was the
pieces that would allow them,
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like the Picassos, the
Matisse, to barter them
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here in the Paris art market
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and to sell them away.
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- [Interpreter] Even if this type of art
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was not appreciated and
was publicly denigrated
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by the Nazi regime, they
were perfectly aware
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that it represented a
vast financial aspect,
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and that these works
could not be destroyed,
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that it was better to trade them
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and contribute to the war effort.
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- [Hector] Degenerate art, is to him,
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the art that comes out
of degenerate minds,
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and he talks specifically about Cubism,
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Surrealism, and Dadaism.
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How can someone like
Michelangelo or the Mona Lisa,
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and at the same time, can
create and invent the Holocaust?
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(somber instrumental music)
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- [Narrator] Many art
collectors in Paris were Jewish,
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and were therefore targeted
as a priority for looting.
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Before and after the war,
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the French capital was
the hub of the art market.
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Alphonse Kann was a prominent
English art collector
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living in Paris.
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His collections featured Georges Braque's
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Man with a Guitar, a major painting
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and a founding work of Cubism.
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By 1940, Kann had fled to England.
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(whistle blowing)
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- [Interpreter] Alphonse
Kann was an elegant dandy,
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a banker and an art collector
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who had started out
collecting old paintings,
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pre-Columbian and African
objects of art and furniture.
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His taste in art was very
eclectic and very accurate.
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- [Interpreter] He was
a rather amazing man.
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He was fascinated by modern art
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from 1910 to 1915 after the war,
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just after the First World War,
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and started buying it.
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(light music)
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- [Interpreter] Alphonse Kann
bought unprecedented volumes
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of pure Cubist Picassos
with great determination.
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He knew full well that they
were extremely difficult works,
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and that the general public
did not understand them.
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(whistle blowing)
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- [Interpreter] At the
time of the occupation,
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the German Special Services arrived.
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If necessary, the French police helped out
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because let's face it,
it was in the middle
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of the collaboration.
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Kann had left for England
a couple of years before,
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and his house in
St.-Germain-en-Laye was looted.
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It was early October
1940 right at the start.
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- In Germany before the war started,
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they had already established
a list of the objects
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that they may want.
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From the very first day of
the occupation in June 1940,
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the occupation of Paris,
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they started looting objects
from the very first day,
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looting galleries especially.
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- [Narrator] The lists
mentioned Paul Rosenberg,
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a key figure in the Parisian art market.
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In early 1940, he fled the French capital
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for southwest France in a bid
to seek shelter for his family
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and his most important works,
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among them Woman in Blue in
Front of a Fireplace by Matisse.
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As Rosenberg's collection was
so reputed and well-known,
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the collector was a priority
target for the Nazis.
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His family gallery featured works
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by major Impressionists
alongside masterpieces
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of modern art.
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- [Interpreter] Paul
Rosenberg forged dealer
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and friendship bonds with Picasso,
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Braque, and Matisse.
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- When you have great art dealers,
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they will be helping artists
develop their careers,
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and this is what happened
with Paul Rosenberg.
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- [Interpreter] It wasn't
simply a case of him
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just commissioning and selling.
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He didn't just trade.
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He was perhaps also an impresario.
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He promoted them and accompanied them,
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and he also commissioned works.
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He followed them.
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- This is an art dealer
who dealt with Picasso,
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Mattise, Braque, and Leger.
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In the 20s and 30s, this is man
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who was controlling part of modern art.
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- [Narrator] In 1939 in Lucerne,
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the Nazis organized a major
sale of degenerate art
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that had been looted from German museums.
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All profits from the sale were
poured into the war effort.
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- [Interpreter] Collectors
and museum directors
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from all over the world
flocked to the sale
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because magnificent works
were put on the market
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at unbeatable prices.
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It attracted huge crowds,
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but my grandfather said he
wouldn't buy any of the works.
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He wouldn't give a
single coin to the Nazis
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as he said the money would
fall back down upon them
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in the form of bombs.
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So he was identified as
being refractory to the Nazis
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and was blacklisted.
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This resulted in him closing his gallery,
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and they retreated to near Bordeaux.
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But interestingly, the illusion
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that we could go back to Paris
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to open the gallery again was still there.
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He wrote to Matisse saying,
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you'll see, I'll return
to Paris in April or May.
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He thought he would open the gallery again
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in April or May of 1940 and
put on a fantastic exhibition.
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(man speaking foreign language)
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- In the beginning, almost
none of the collectors,
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the Rothschilds, the
Rosenbergs, the Kanns,
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they never thought that
there could be looting
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during the war, this type of
methodical, systematic looting.
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This was unthinkable,
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so they wanted to protect it, perhaps,
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from the havoc of war,
from the soldier of war.
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- [Interpreter] He had
a lot of his paintings
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brought to southwest France near Bordeaux.
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He hired a vault at the BNCI,
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the French national bank
for trade and industry
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which had a secured vault in Libourne
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saying they'll be safe here.
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Braque, who visited him,
hired the vault next to his.
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- [Narrator] At the time, Libourne
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was in the occupied zone,
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and persecution against Jews
were increasingly frequent.
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- [Hector] Over there, he will
have to leave very quickly,
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but he left behind many many things.
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- [Interpreter] Then my
grandfather, grandmother,
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and mother, families were torn apart,
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00:10:19,653 --> 00:10:21,893
crossed the border at Hendaye
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to flee across Spain to Portugal.
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Miraculously, they were able to get away,
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take the boat in the middle
of the mines and submarines
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and reach America.
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(somber instrumental music)
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Paul Rosenberg attracted
feelings jealousy,
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so certain intermediaries denounced him.
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- There were people who
wanted to negotiate,
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who wanted to have either a
percentage of it, a commission.
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In kind, they would be receiving paintings
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from the Rosenberg collection in exchange
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00:11:09,248 --> 00:11:11,081
for their information.
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- [Interpreter] In 1941,
the Nazis, the Gestapo,
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helped by the French authorities
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00:11:19,147 --> 00:11:23,565
forced the bank's vaults and
plundered their contents.
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They looted my grandfather's
vault and Braque's too.
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00:11:30,086 --> 00:11:33,089
On the 5th of September 1941,
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Paul Rosenberg's collection and stock
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were transferred to the
Jeu de Paume Museum.
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00:11:43,766 --> 00:11:45,868
- [Narrator] Hermann Goring,
number two at the Reich
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00:11:45,868 --> 00:11:47,446
and head of the Luftwaffe,
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00:11:47,446 --> 00:11:48,827
used the Jeu de Paume Museum
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00:11:48,827 --> 00:11:51,327
to store all the stolen works.
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Here in late 1941, Alphonse Kann's
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00:11:55,990 --> 00:11:57,686
Braque Man with a Guitar
223
00:11:57,686 --> 00:12:00,150
and Paul Rosenberg's Matisse Woman in Blue
224
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in Front of a Fireplace
225
00:12:01,446 --> 00:12:04,613
lay within a few meters of each other.
226
00:12:06,646 --> 00:12:08,348
To transfer the thousands of stolen works
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00:12:08,348 --> 00:12:09,846
to the Jeu de Paume Museum,
228
00:12:09,846 --> 00:12:12,148
Goring used the services of the E.R.R.,
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00:12:12,148 --> 00:12:13,969
the official looting body.
230
00:12:13,969 --> 00:12:18,136
(Goring speaking foreign language)
231
00:12:21,505 --> 00:12:24,326
- [Interpreter] Goring took
the E.R.R. under his wing,
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00:12:24,326 --> 00:12:26,289
and this made transport and workforce
233
00:12:26,289 --> 00:12:30,456
available to the E.R.R. to
regularly send things to Germany.
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00:12:33,073 --> 00:12:35,823
(train chugging)
235
00:12:40,353 --> 00:12:42,891
- [Interpreter] Goring had
his own personal train.
236
00:12:42,891 --> 00:12:44,913
The entire last wagon
was used as a warehouse
237
00:12:44,913 --> 00:12:46,854
for looted works of art.
238
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He spent a large part of his time
239
00:12:48,352 --> 00:12:50,774
seeking masterpieces throughout Europe
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00:12:50,774 --> 00:12:52,192
that could be looted from families
241
00:12:52,192 --> 00:12:56,359
and compiled into a vast
personal collection at his home.
242
00:13:11,562 --> 00:13:13,764
- [Narrator] As grandmaster
of this villainous chess game,
243
00:13:13,764 --> 00:13:15,423
Hermann Goring claimed all rights
244
00:13:15,423 --> 00:13:18,362
over the destiny of the stolen works.
245
00:13:18,362 --> 00:13:21,700
Man With a Guitar and Woman in
Blue in Front of a Fireplace
246
00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:23,722
transited via his personal networks
247
00:13:23,722 --> 00:13:27,222
that also supplied his private collection.
248
00:13:28,820 --> 00:13:31,011
- [Interpreter] I'm just
discovering these photographs.
249
00:13:31,011 --> 00:13:32,594
They're incredible.
250
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,467
Goring has just visited
the Jeu de Paume Museum,
251
00:13:37,467 --> 00:13:39,365
where the works that
were plundered and looted
252
00:13:39,365 --> 00:13:42,448
from the Jewish families were stored.
253
00:13:49,707 --> 00:13:51,563
Goring visited the Jeu de Paume Museum
254
00:13:51,563 --> 00:13:53,313
on over 20 occasions.
255
00:13:55,524 --> 00:13:56,864
- [Interpreter] In November '42,
256
00:13:56,864 --> 00:14:00,181
February '41, March '41, April '41,
257
00:14:00,181 --> 00:14:03,383
May '41, July '41, August '41,
258
00:14:03,383 --> 00:14:07,221
December '41, February '42, March '42,
259
00:14:07,221 --> 00:14:10,054
14th of May '42, and November '42.
260
00:14:10,924 --> 00:14:12,641
It's quite astonishing.
261
00:14:12,641 --> 00:14:14,204
The man spent his life there.
262
00:14:14,204 --> 00:14:15,820
He would visit incognito.
263
00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:20,100
Goring, that horrible
character, liked degenerate art.
264
00:14:20,100 --> 00:14:22,140
He had a room reserved for it,
265
00:14:22,140 --> 00:14:23,964
referred to as the Martyr Room
266
00:14:23,964 --> 00:14:27,804
where all the canvases he was
interested in were exhibited,
267
00:14:27,804 --> 00:14:30,887
and he helped himself freely from it.
268
00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:34,503
- [Interpreter] This is a photograph
269
00:14:34,503 --> 00:14:37,732
of the Martyr Room, and in this room,
270
00:14:37,732 --> 00:14:39,948
hanging from floor to ceiling,
271
00:14:39,948 --> 00:14:41,284
are all the works considered
272
00:14:41,284 --> 00:14:43,867
as belonging to degenerate art.
273
00:14:46,846 --> 00:14:51,728
We can recognize works by
Chagall, Matisse, Picasso,
274
00:14:51,728 --> 00:14:55,895
numerous works by Dali, Fernand
Leger, and Torres Garcia.
275
00:14:57,430 --> 00:14:58,428
- [Interpreter] According to us,
276
00:14:58,428 --> 00:14:59,830
that's the Braque there.
277
00:14:59,830 --> 00:15:01,508
You can see the composition and the size
278
00:15:01,508 --> 00:15:04,841
because it's a tall and narrow painting.
279
00:15:06,266 --> 00:15:09,766
(soft instrumental music)
280
00:15:11,185 --> 00:15:12,588
- [Narrator] The Jeu
de Paume became the hub
281
00:15:12,588 --> 00:15:16,171
of Nazi looted art and
its parallel market.
282
00:15:17,068 --> 00:15:18,805
One young museum employee risked her life
283
00:15:18,805 --> 00:15:20,726
in tracking and registering
the traceability
284
00:15:20,726 --> 00:15:22,143
of the paintings.
285
00:15:23,068 --> 00:15:24,465
She was to play a key role
286
00:15:24,465 --> 00:15:26,798
in the post war restitution.
287
00:15:27,932 --> 00:15:30,288
- [Interpreter] Jaujard,
the owner of the Louvre,
288
00:15:30,288 --> 00:15:32,925
asked Rose Valland, a young woman
289
00:15:32,925 --> 00:15:34,684
from a very modest background,
290
00:15:34,684 --> 00:15:38,321
to be on site and to witness
what the Nazis were doing.
291
00:15:38,321 --> 00:15:40,571
She was to play a key role.
292
00:15:43,728 --> 00:15:45,905
- [Interpreter] She observed
and rummaged in the bins
293
00:15:45,905 --> 00:15:50,072
to obtain duplicates of
everything that was written down.
294
00:15:51,622 --> 00:15:52,961
She tried to obtain the addresses
295
00:15:52,961 --> 00:15:55,521
of the looted collectors.
296
00:15:55,521 --> 00:15:57,867
At night in the arrangerie,
she would jot down
297
00:15:57,867 --> 00:16:00,178
in her little notebooks
summaries of all the works
298
00:16:00,178 --> 00:16:02,604
she'd seen, where they came from,
299
00:16:02,604 --> 00:16:06,241
and where they were
going as far as she knew.
300
00:16:06,241 --> 00:16:08,481
After the liberation, this
proved to be a gold mine
301
00:16:08,481 --> 00:16:11,648
for the French museums and collectors.
302
00:16:14,502 --> 00:16:17,025
Rose Valland flagged that
this painting of Braque's
303
00:16:17,025 --> 00:16:19,004
was going to be exchanged.
304
00:16:19,004 --> 00:16:21,265
We have the exchange documents.
305
00:16:21,265 --> 00:16:23,959
The document can be found in
the archives of the Louvre,
306
00:16:23,959 --> 00:16:26,044
and the same document
exists in the archives
307
00:16:26,044 --> 00:16:27,794
of the Musee D'Orsay.
308
00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:30,600
- [Interpreter] It's
very interesting to see
309
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,641
the correlation between the exchanges
310
00:16:32,641 --> 00:16:36,225
that Rose Valland noted
down during this period
311
00:16:36,225 --> 00:16:38,342
and Goring's visits.
312
00:16:38,342 --> 00:16:41,241
For example, the exchange
that interests us
313
00:16:41,241 --> 00:16:44,185
took place in February 1942,
314
00:16:44,185 --> 00:16:48,352
and Goring was there on
the 25th of February 1942.
315
00:16:50,145 --> 00:16:54,305
We found the Braque Man
with a Guitar, Item 1062,
316
00:16:54,305 --> 00:16:57,472
with the reference HG, Hermann Goring.
317
00:16:59,241 --> 00:17:02,741
So, Man With a Guitar disappeared in 1942.
318
00:17:03,905 --> 00:17:07,488
(tense instrumental music)
319
00:17:15,185 --> 00:17:16,182
- [Narrator] Like the Braque,
320
00:17:16,182 --> 00:17:18,465
Matisse's Woman in Blue
in Front of a Fireplace
321
00:17:18,465 --> 00:17:20,721
was also exchanged.
322
00:17:20,721 --> 00:17:22,820
It was part of a batch
of four Matisse paintings
323
00:17:22,820 --> 00:17:25,345
that Goring exchanged with
a collaborator art dealer
324
00:17:25,345 --> 00:17:27,484
for a Jan Brueghel painting.
325
00:17:27,484 --> 00:17:31,067
(tense instrumental music)
326
00:17:34,842 --> 00:17:37,324
- [Interpreter] Here we see
that a member of the E.R.R.,
327
00:17:37,324 --> 00:17:39,962
the body dedicated to the looting of art,
328
00:17:39,962 --> 00:17:43,641
is getting ready to serve
him a glass of champagne,
329
00:17:43,641 --> 00:17:45,164
and the work he is holding
330
00:17:45,164 --> 00:17:48,414
is the Port of Antwerp by Jan Brueghel.
331
00:17:51,401 --> 00:17:53,656
Goring is sealing the agreement
332
00:17:53,656 --> 00:17:56,604
which is to recover the Jan Brueghel
333
00:17:56,604 --> 00:17:58,705
and to exchange with the art dealer
334
00:17:58,705 --> 00:18:02,788
the four Matisse looted
from the Jewish families.
335
00:18:07,382 --> 00:18:09,248
- [Hector] The state of the art market
336
00:18:09,248 --> 00:18:10,741
in Paris during the war,
337
00:18:10,741 --> 00:18:14,200
I realize that it was a very lively place.
338
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:15,862
- [Interpreter] They
operated in a network.
339
00:18:15,862 --> 00:18:18,604
It was an illegal market,
a parallel market.
340
00:18:18,604 --> 00:18:22,145
They operated a network
and subsidiaries emerged.
341
00:18:22,145 --> 00:18:25,478
- There were auctions at war constantly.
342
00:18:26,601 --> 00:18:28,545
Many art dealers were open,
343
00:18:28,545 --> 00:18:31,542
which meant a lot of collaboration,
344
00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:36,318
of course, naturally, it
has to mean collaboration.
345
00:18:36,318 --> 00:18:38,199
- [Interpreter] Everybody, everybody,
346
00:18:38,199 --> 00:18:39,564
I say that in all honesty,
347
00:18:39,564 --> 00:18:42,465
including French gallery
owners during the occupation,
348
00:18:42,465 --> 00:18:45,465
everybody profited from the looting.
349
00:18:46,945 --> 00:18:49,244
On October the 31st, 1942,
350
00:18:49,244 --> 00:18:51,942
we can read sale of
assets of Israeli Khann,
351
00:18:51,942 --> 00:18:53,505
three days of sales.
352
00:18:53,505 --> 00:18:56,684
The Gazette of the Hotel
Drouot auctioning house
353
00:18:56,684 --> 00:18:58,465
three days of sales.
354
00:18:58,465 --> 00:19:01,105
Do you know what three
days of sales represents?
355
00:19:01,105 --> 00:19:05,272
Hundreds of canvases, and
that's just the French part.
356
00:19:10,203 --> 00:19:11,964
- [Narrator] The two
Braque and Matisse canvases
357
00:19:11,964 --> 00:19:14,742
that were stolen from Alphonse
Kann and Paul Rosenberg
358
00:19:14,742 --> 00:19:17,161
disappeared into the parallel market.
359
00:19:17,161 --> 00:19:21,328
The Nazis carried on plundering
European art heritage.
360
00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:29,465
- The same message that they apply,
361
00:19:29,465 --> 00:19:33,632
let's say to bring in people
from Paris to Auschwitz,
362
00:19:34,849 --> 00:19:36,705
you know by using trains,
363
00:19:36,705 --> 00:19:39,872
by using cattle trains, cattle wagons,
364
00:19:41,084 --> 00:19:43,667
we have to put it as an analogy
365
00:19:44,684 --> 00:19:46,945
in how they did the looting.
366
00:19:46,945 --> 00:19:49,707
I think it was more or
less the same method
367
00:19:49,707 --> 00:19:51,025
that was applied.
368
00:19:51,025 --> 00:19:54,692
(somber instrumental music)
369
00:19:55,824 --> 00:19:57,201
- [Narrator] Throughout Europe,
370
00:19:57,201 --> 00:20:00,465
the Nazis used an industrialized
system for looting.
371
00:20:00,465 --> 00:20:04,001
It was designed to let no work escape.
372
00:20:04,001 --> 00:20:06,542
In 1942 in Austria, the
enlightened collector
373
00:20:06,542 --> 00:20:08,225
Karl Grunwald fled the country
374
00:20:08,225 --> 00:20:11,265
with a few of his works
including Wilted Sunflowers
375
00:20:11,265 --> 00:20:12,598
by Egon Schiele.
376
00:20:15,113 --> 00:20:17,903
- [Interpreter] Karl Grunwald
managed to remove from Austria
377
00:20:17,903 --> 00:20:20,302
a large share of the paintings
378
00:20:20,302 --> 00:20:22,523
he was most fond of by declaring them
379
00:20:22,523 --> 00:20:25,368
to be of lower value
than they really were,
380
00:20:25,368 --> 00:20:27,285
so that nobody was interested in the works
381
00:20:27,285 --> 00:20:28,702
he had collected.
382
00:20:30,824 --> 00:20:32,744
He had them transported to Strasbourg
383
00:20:32,744 --> 00:20:35,744
where he placed them in a warehouse.
384
00:20:36,808 --> 00:20:38,168
- [Interpreter] He himself
had managed to obtain
385
00:20:38,168 --> 00:20:40,787
and to buy a visa to leave Austria.
386
00:20:40,787 --> 00:20:43,070
He hoped to reach the
US by crossing France
387
00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:46,168
and leaving from Spain,
but the rest of the family
388
00:20:46,168 --> 00:20:48,566
did not manage to buy visas in time
389
00:20:48,566 --> 00:20:50,066
and were deported.
390
00:20:50,945 --> 00:20:55,708
(Melissa speaking foreign language)
391
00:20:55,708 --> 00:20:57,724
- [Interpreter] Unfortunately,
when Karl Grunwald
392
00:20:57,724 --> 00:21:00,164
had to leave France,
he no longer had access
393
00:21:00,164 --> 00:21:03,345
to the warehouse, and in
order to save his own life,
394
00:21:03,345 --> 00:21:06,646
had to leave the paintings
behind in France.
395
00:21:06,646 --> 00:21:10,024
He managed to flee the country.
396
00:21:10,024 --> 00:21:12,469
Originally, he thought he could
head straight for New York,
397
00:21:12,469 --> 00:21:15,523
but he first had to travel via Morocco,
398
00:21:15,523 --> 00:21:18,166
where he was detained
in very bad conditions
399
00:21:18,166 --> 00:21:20,380
and where he suffered terribly.
400
00:21:20,380 --> 00:21:24,547
(Melissa speaking foreign language)
401
00:21:27,948 --> 00:21:29,281
- [Interpreter] What we knew
about Schiele's painting
402
00:21:29,281 --> 00:21:31,126
is that it was up for auction,
403
00:21:31,126 --> 00:21:35,505
organized by the Nazis
around 1943 in Strasbourg.
404
00:21:35,505 --> 00:21:38,565
- We don't know whether it was bought,
405
00:21:38,565 --> 00:21:41,065
or whether it remained unsold,
406
00:21:42,103 --> 00:21:45,305
and we just don't know what happened
407
00:21:45,305 --> 00:21:47,055
between 1942 and now.
408
00:21:49,505 --> 00:21:52,065
- [Narrator] In 1943, the
three canvases vanished
409
00:21:52,065 --> 00:21:54,848
into the lucrative parallel market.
410
00:21:54,848 --> 00:21:57,465
At the end of the war,
the figures were added up.
411
00:21:57,465 --> 00:22:02,428
The Third Reich had plundered
over 600,000 works of art.
412
00:22:02,428 --> 00:22:04,505
Karl Grunwald took refuge in New York,
413
00:22:04,505 --> 00:22:05,846
where he remained.
414
00:22:05,846 --> 00:22:08,108
Alphonse Kann stayed in London.
415
00:22:08,108 --> 00:22:10,028
Only Paul Rosenberg returned to Paris
416
00:22:10,028 --> 00:22:12,111
as soon as the war ended.
417
00:22:14,105 --> 00:22:16,731
- [Interpreter] When my
grandfather arrived in 1945,
418
00:22:16,731 --> 00:22:19,569
he started to search for his paintings,
419
00:22:19,569 --> 00:22:21,652
and people began to talk.
420
00:22:24,809 --> 00:22:26,689
I would've liked my grandfather, perhaps,
421
00:22:26,689 --> 00:22:30,689
to take legal action, but
in Monte Cristo style,
422
00:22:31,910 --> 00:22:34,250
he said he would take revenge.
423
00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:36,790
He went from gallery to gallery saying,
424
00:22:36,790 --> 00:22:39,590
that's mine, that's mine, and that's mine.
425
00:22:39,590 --> 00:22:41,110
I even think somebody said to him,
426
00:22:41,110 --> 00:22:44,289
ah no, I haven't seen a
single of your paintings.
427
00:22:44,289 --> 00:22:46,329
Of course you know if I had
seen one of your paintings,
428
00:22:46,329 --> 00:22:47,670
I would've said so.
429
00:22:47,670 --> 00:22:50,049
I would've made sure it was safe,
430
00:22:50,049 --> 00:22:52,870
and my grandfather said,
well that one's mine.
431
00:22:52,870 --> 00:22:54,169
Ah, there must be a mistake then,
432
00:22:54,169 --> 00:22:57,510
came the reply, and he
gave it back to him.
433
00:22:57,510 --> 00:22:59,449
- The art world was
very small at the time.
434
00:22:59,449 --> 00:23:02,588
You knew that such and such a painting
435
00:23:02,588 --> 00:23:04,913
had been at the Paul Rosenberg Gallery.
436
00:23:04,913 --> 00:23:07,473
You may have seen it,
someone told you about it,
437
00:23:07,473 --> 00:23:09,030
it's very simple.
438
00:23:09,030 --> 00:23:11,409
- [Interpreter] There was
artistic collaboration.
439
00:23:11,409 --> 00:23:12,550
If you wanted to find something,
440
00:23:12,550 --> 00:23:14,913
and if you wanted to trace
things back at the time,
441
00:23:14,913 --> 00:23:19,633
all you had to do was look
at Paul Rosenberg's catalogs.
442
00:23:19,633 --> 00:23:22,076
The dealers who
collaborated during the war
443
00:23:22,076 --> 00:23:24,214
and who made a fortune at the time
444
00:23:24,214 --> 00:23:26,464
pretended they didn't know.
445
00:23:27,516 --> 00:23:30,951
But a dealer by definition knows.
446
00:23:30,951 --> 00:23:34,337
Otherwise, they're just
small time antique dealers.
447
00:23:34,337 --> 00:23:37,170
They were clearly being dishonest.
448
00:23:38,177 --> 00:23:39,272
- [Narrator] In the post war years,
449
00:23:39,272 --> 00:23:42,152
the collectors set out in
search of their stolen assets
450
00:23:42,152 --> 00:23:44,454
in an international market
that was flooded with works
451
00:23:44,454 --> 00:23:46,552
that had had a troubled past.
452
00:23:46,552 --> 00:23:48,513
An artistic recovery
commission was established
453
00:23:48,513 --> 00:23:50,430
on November 24th, 1944.
454
00:23:52,433 --> 00:23:55,774
45,400 paintings were
identified and returned
455
00:23:55,774 --> 00:23:58,177
via the commission after the war,
456
00:23:58,177 --> 00:24:02,344
but another 50,000 were still
missing without a trace.
457
00:24:03,377 --> 00:24:04,433
- [Interpreter] In the 50s and 60s,
458
00:24:04,433 --> 00:24:06,353
those sorts of questions weren't asked.
459
00:24:06,353 --> 00:24:09,996
There was a none memory
surrounding the plundering.
460
00:24:09,996 --> 00:24:13,033
When you realize that it was
only the historian Paxton
461
00:24:13,033 --> 00:24:15,950
in 1970s who revealed the collusion
462
00:24:16,790 --> 00:24:20,310
of the Vichy regime in the
deportations of the Jews,
463
00:24:20,310 --> 00:24:24,497
so 25 or 30 years after
the end of the war,
464
00:24:24,497 --> 00:24:26,172
you can imagine that people didn't know
465
00:24:26,172 --> 00:24:28,922
the whereabouts of the paintings.
466
00:24:30,956 --> 00:24:31,974
- [Narrator] Looting of works of art
467
00:24:31,974 --> 00:24:34,236
were nevertheless considered
at the Nuremberg Trials
468
00:24:34,236 --> 00:24:35,736
to be a war crime.
469
00:24:37,334 --> 00:24:39,334
Alphonse Kann died in 1948 in London
470
00:24:39,334 --> 00:24:41,948
with nobody knowing if
he had managed to recover
471
00:24:41,948 --> 00:24:44,152
Man With a Guitar.
472
00:24:44,152 --> 00:24:46,156
Paul Rosenberg died in 1959
473
00:24:46,156 --> 00:24:47,473
not knowing what had become
474
00:24:47,473 --> 00:24:50,476
of Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace.
475
00:24:50,476 --> 00:24:52,876
And Karl Grunwald died in 1964
476
00:24:52,876 --> 00:24:54,318
having asked his son to carry on
477
00:24:54,318 --> 00:24:56,176
searching for Wilted Sunflowers,
478
00:24:56,176 --> 00:24:58,000
his favorite painting.
479
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,500
(light music)
480
00:25:21,082 --> 00:25:23,724
It wasn't until 36 years
after the end of the war
481
00:25:23,724 --> 00:25:26,084
that one of the three works reemerged
482
00:25:26,084 --> 00:25:28,703
at a famous French museum.
483
00:25:28,703 --> 00:25:31,023
In 1981, the Pompidou
Center was the object
484
00:25:31,023 --> 00:25:33,485
of much media attention following
485
00:25:33,485 --> 00:25:36,586
the spectacular acquisition
of Georges Braque's Cubist gem
486
00:25:36,586 --> 00:25:38,086
Man With a Guitar.
487
00:25:38,986 --> 00:25:40,342
At the time, there was no more mention
488
00:25:40,342 --> 00:25:41,759
of Alphonse Kann.
489
00:25:42,924 --> 00:25:44,538
In the 1980s, nobody was interested
490
00:25:44,538 --> 00:25:46,705
in the stories of looting.
491
00:25:48,103 --> 00:25:49,764
It wasn't until the mid-1990s
492
00:25:49,764 --> 00:25:53,306
that the issue of the
restitution was finally raised.
493
00:25:53,306 --> 00:25:54,666
The French minister for foreign affairs
494
00:25:54,666 --> 00:25:57,487
decided to open its
archives to the public,
495
00:25:57,487 --> 00:26:00,183
and in particular, the E.R.R. report
496
00:26:00,183 --> 00:26:01,903
which detailed the lists and references
497
00:26:01,903 --> 00:26:06,070
of all the works and families
that had been looted.
498
00:26:07,485 --> 00:26:09,305
- [Interpreter] One morning in 1996,
499
00:26:09,305 --> 00:26:11,306
a client came to see me.
500
00:26:11,306 --> 00:26:12,946
He was a distant heir of Kann,
501
00:26:12,946 --> 00:26:14,943
and he brought me this.
502
00:26:14,943 --> 00:26:16,985
This E.R.R. report had been given
503
00:26:16,985 --> 00:26:18,783
to each one of the families.
504
00:26:18,783 --> 00:26:20,164
That's exactly how it happened.
505
00:26:20,164 --> 00:26:21,423
I went to the foreign office
506
00:26:21,423 --> 00:26:23,246
and got the E.R.R. list.
507
00:26:23,246 --> 00:26:25,444
Look what I found.
508
00:26:25,444 --> 00:26:27,582
And it was in Beaubourg,
sleeping peacefully
509
00:26:27,582 --> 00:26:29,499
on a wall in Beaubourg.
510
00:26:30,703 --> 00:26:32,404
- [Narrator] In 1996, Kann's heirs
511
00:26:32,404 --> 00:26:35,066
asked for the restitution
of Man with a Guitar,
512
00:26:35,066 --> 00:26:39,233
a painting looted from their
ancestor Alphonse Kann.
513
00:26:42,543 --> 00:26:44,358
- [Interpreter] We made contact
with the head of the museum
514
00:26:44,358 --> 00:26:46,362
at the time, Mr. Aillagon,
515
00:26:46,362 --> 00:26:48,042
and we had a rather hard time
516
00:26:48,042 --> 00:26:52,209
because the Beaubourg museum
was having none of it.
517
00:26:57,343 --> 00:26:58,701
- [Interpreter] We took a while to react
518
00:26:58,701 --> 00:27:00,543
because we considered that if the work
519
00:27:00,543 --> 00:27:03,804
had indeed be involved with
the Nazi's looting policy
520
00:27:03,804 --> 00:27:07,962
at some point, it had
reappeared at the end of the war
521
00:27:07,962 --> 00:27:09,463
in conditions that could've led one
522
00:27:09,463 --> 00:27:11,967
to believe that there was a transaction
523
00:27:11,967 --> 00:27:15,300
between Alphonse Kann and Andre Lefebvre.
524
00:27:20,607 --> 00:27:21,764
- [Narrator] Andre Lefebvre was a figure
525
00:27:21,764 --> 00:27:23,887
of the Parisian art market.
526
00:27:23,887 --> 00:27:26,002
The painting reappeared
with him after the war.
527
00:27:26,002 --> 00:27:30,164
In other words, after it had been looted.
528
00:27:30,164 --> 00:27:31,167
- [Interpreter] The Pompidou Center
529
00:27:31,167 --> 00:27:34,586
suggested that Andre Lefebvre
could have acquired the work
530
00:27:34,586 --> 00:27:36,746
entirely legitimately.
531
00:27:36,746 --> 00:27:40,387
Had it done so, there
would've been a trace of that.
532
00:27:40,387 --> 00:27:43,487
Curiously, the archives of Andre Lefebvre
533
00:27:43,487 --> 00:27:46,383
given to the Pompidou
Center were very detailed
534
00:27:46,383 --> 00:27:50,724
up until 1939, but from
the looting to 1945,
535
00:27:50,724 --> 00:27:52,644
there was nothing.
536
00:27:52,644 --> 00:27:56,144
As chance would have it, they disappeared.
537
00:27:58,506 --> 00:27:59,883
- [Narrator] Nevertheless, Andre Lefebvre
538
00:27:59,883 --> 00:28:01,706
was associated with Man With a Guitar
539
00:28:01,706 --> 00:28:04,426
as soon as the painting
reappeared after the war.
540
00:28:04,426 --> 00:28:06,060
He officially lent the
work for an exhibition
541
00:28:06,060 --> 00:28:09,477
in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany in 1948.
542
00:28:12,106 --> 00:28:13,647
- [Interpreter] One might think
543
00:28:13,647 --> 00:28:15,103
that the Frieburg exhibition
544
00:28:15,103 --> 00:28:17,343
was a way to make the painting seem
545
00:28:17,343 --> 00:28:20,489
as though it belonged to Andre Lefebvre,
546
00:28:20,489 --> 00:28:22,656
like a sort of laundering.
547
00:28:24,820 --> 00:28:28,204
The work reappeared belonging
to the great collector
548
00:28:28,204 --> 00:28:30,287
and patron Andre Lefebvre.
549
00:28:32,239 --> 00:28:33,242
- [Interpreter] That really implies
550
00:28:33,242 --> 00:28:34,820
the organizers of these exhibitions
551
00:28:34,820 --> 00:28:37,436
had highly perverse intentions.
552
00:28:37,436 --> 00:28:40,383
It really implies they had
extremely somber intentions
553
00:28:40,383 --> 00:28:42,585
and supposes that they were engaged
554
00:28:42,585 --> 00:28:46,752
in laundering operations for
looted canvases and works.
555
00:28:49,404 --> 00:28:51,322
- [Interpreter] It's
unthinkable that Andre Lefebvre
556
00:28:51,322 --> 00:28:54,702
would've acted openly as
the owner of the painting
557
00:28:54,702 --> 00:28:56,802
while Alphonse Kann was still alive even
558
00:28:56,802 --> 00:28:59,578
without the existence of an agreement
559
00:28:59,578 --> 00:29:03,380
between Alphonse Kann and Andre Lefebvre.
560
00:29:03,380 --> 00:29:05,103
What was the nature of that agreement?
561
00:29:05,103 --> 00:29:08,079
Was it a sale or an
exchange or something else?
562
00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:10,579
There is no trace of it today.
563
00:29:11,828 --> 00:29:14,721
- [Interpreter] There
was an article in 1974
564
00:29:14,721 --> 00:29:18,740
in Connaissance des Arts by
his godson Jerome Penieux
565
00:29:18,740 --> 00:29:21,720
who often had lunch at
Andre Lefebvre's home,
566
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,282
and who himself said that he never knew
567
00:29:24,282 --> 00:29:26,322
where the paintings came from,
568
00:29:26,322 --> 00:29:30,426
and Lefebvre never
spoke to him about them.
569
00:29:30,426 --> 00:29:31,423
- [Interpreter] After the war,
570
00:29:31,423 --> 00:29:33,364
Alphonse Kann claimed
back a great many works
571
00:29:33,364 --> 00:29:35,052
that belonged to him.
572
00:29:35,052 --> 00:29:37,066
Why did he not claim back that one
573
00:29:37,066 --> 00:29:40,426
when it was one of the most
important works he possessed?
574
00:29:40,426 --> 00:29:41,967
You could say, but it's only a theory,
575
00:29:41,967 --> 00:29:43,281
that he considered he'd given the work
576
00:29:43,281 --> 00:29:45,948
to somebody else, Andre Lefebvre.
577
00:29:48,906 --> 00:29:50,164
- [Interpreter] To everything we provided
578
00:29:50,164 --> 00:29:51,567
in the way of documents gave rise
579
00:29:51,567 --> 00:29:54,564
to a we're also going
to carry out research,
580
00:29:54,564 --> 00:29:55,946
we'll meet with you later,
581
00:29:55,946 --> 00:29:58,063
and they came back with
a standard response,
582
00:29:58,063 --> 00:29:59,983
no it's not possible.
583
00:29:59,983 --> 00:30:03,566
(light instrumental music)
584
00:30:10,242 --> 00:30:14,409
(Gunnar speaking foreign language)
585
00:30:15,522 --> 00:30:16,839
- [Interpreter] It's typical of museums
586
00:30:16,839 --> 00:30:18,743
to draw negotiations out
587
00:30:18,743 --> 00:30:22,660
even when the legal
situation relatively clear.
588
00:30:23,559 --> 00:30:25,479
And this lengthy process is partly aimed
589
00:30:25,479 --> 00:30:27,979
at wearing down the claimants.
590
00:30:30,519 --> 00:30:32,557
They try to negotiate a different amount
591
00:30:32,557 --> 00:30:34,199
for the transaction, or else,
592
00:30:34,199 --> 00:30:35,641
an entirely different agreement
593
00:30:35,641 --> 00:30:37,540
that is more advantageous for the museum
594
00:30:37,540 --> 00:30:38,957
or for the owner.
595
00:30:41,719 --> 00:30:42,722
- [Interpreter] For two to three years,
596
00:30:42,722 --> 00:30:44,162
we tried to negotiate with them,
597
00:30:44,162 --> 00:30:45,618
but because they were not receptive,
598
00:30:45,618 --> 00:30:47,260
we had to take the bull by the horns.
599
00:30:47,260 --> 00:30:50,343
We took court action for concealment.
600
00:30:51,559 --> 00:30:52,562
- [Interpreter] The family considered
601
00:30:52,562 --> 00:30:54,241
that the work was being concealed,
602
00:30:54,241 --> 00:30:57,122
as they proved the
painting had been looted,
603
00:30:57,122 --> 00:30:59,622
but the museum was keeping it.
604
00:31:01,279 --> 00:31:02,598
- [Interpreter] And so two representatives
605
00:31:02,598 --> 00:31:05,420
of the Kann family attended
the following session
606
00:31:05,420 --> 00:31:09,260
along with myself with
Aillagon in the judge's office.
607
00:31:09,260 --> 00:31:12,242
It was a moment of great pleasure for us,
608
00:31:12,242 --> 00:31:13,409
less for them.
609
00:31:16,283 --> 00:31:17,897
- [Interpreter] The first looting
610
00:31:17,897 --> 00:31:20,662
was the one carried out
by the Nazis in 1940,
611
00:31:20,662 --> 00:31:22,423
and the second was when
the Pompidou Center
612
00:31:22,423 --> 00:31:25,006
refused to return the painting.
613
00:31:28,626 --> 00:31:29,884
- [Narrator] The court
case for concealment
614
00:31:29,884 --> 00:31:33,202
triggered an inquiry that was
led by an investigating judge.
615
00:31:33,202 --> 00:31:35,700
It lasted several years.
616
00:31:35,700 --> 00:31:37,682
It was at that time in 2005
617
00:31:37,682 --> 00:31:40,866
that chance filled another 60 year void.
618
00:31:40,866 --> 00:31:43,388
Karl Grunwald's Egon Schiele painting,
619
00:31:43,388 --> 00:31:45,767
Wilted Sunflowers, mysteriously reappeared
620
00:31:45,767 --> 00:31:49,109
in a sleepy suburb in eastern France.
621
00:31:49,109 --> 00:31:52,692
(light instrumental music)
622
00:31:59,301 --> 00:32:02,506
- It was already exhibited in 1914
623
00:32:02,506 --> 00:32:07,285
at the Munich secession,
then in Brussels in 1914,
624
00:32:07,285 --> 00:32:09,804
and in Vienna, and then in Paris.
625
00:32:09,804 --> 00:32:11,861
What you see here, the text
written about the picture,
626
00:32:11,861 --> 00:32:13,567
it's all about the Earl of Provenance
627
00:32:13,567 --> 00:32:15,626
because it was very well recorded,
628
00:32:15,626 --> 00:32:19,043
so a lot was known about the 20, 25 years
629
00:32:21,893 --> 00:32:25,253
after it was painted, but after that,
630
00:32:25,253 --> 00:32:26,586
no more records.
631
00:32:28,314 --> 00:32:30,814
(light music)
632
00:32:33,641 --> 00:32:37,224
Painted in 1914, on
the eve of the outbreak
633
00:32:38,946 --> 00:32:40,196
of World War I.
634
00:32:42,430 --> 00:32:45,150
You see the sunflowers.
635
00:32:45,150 --> 00:32:48,525
Behind the sunflowers
you've got the fading sun.
636
00:32:48,525 --> 00:32:50,204
It's an autumn sun.
637
00:32:50,204 --> 00:32:52,912
The sunbeams are very weak.
638
00:32:52,912 --> 00:32:53,929
It's not warm anymore.
639
00:32:53,929 --> 00:32:54,762
It's cold.
640
00:32:57,403 --> 00:32:59,246
The sunbeams are not even warm enough,
641
00:32:59,246 --> 00:33:00,990
not even strong enough anymore,
642
00:33:00,990 --> 00:33:03,150
that the sunflowers turn around
643
00:33:03,150 --> 00:33:06,046
towards the sun as they usually do.
644
00:33:06,046 --> 00:33:09,147
No with Schiele, they
turn away from the sun,
645
00:33:09,147 --> 00:33:13,049
they look at you, almost
like human beings.
646
00:33:13,049 --> 00:33:15,646
They're wilting, they're fading.
647
00:33:15,646 --> 00:33:18,748
It's a symbol of decay and aging,
648
00:33:18,748 --> 00:33:22,748
and it proved to be an
almost apocalyptic symbol
649
00:33:25,067 --> 00:33:27,027
of World War I.
650
00:33:27,027 --> 00:33:31,194
(gunshots ringing and bombs exploding)
651
00:33:38,679 --> 00:33:41,596
(thunder rumbling)
652
00:33:46,081 --> 00:33:47,978
- [Interpreter] Karl
Grunwald was a lieutenant
653
00:33:47,978 --> 00:33:51,895
stationed in Vienna during
the First World War.
654
00:33:53,536 --> 00:33:57,099
Egon Schiele, a young soldier
working in the administration,
655
00:33:57,099 --> 00:33:59,659
was very unhappy with his post.
656
00:33:59,659 --> 00:34:04,176
He suffered a great deal as a
government worker and soldier.
657
00:34:04,176 --> 00:34:07,296
Grunwald made sure Schiele
was transferred to Vienna
658
00:34:07,296 --> 00:34:10,496
so he could live in better conditions,
659
00:34:10,496 --> 00:34:13,478
ensuring he was allowed to
sleep at home, for example,
660
00:34:13,478 --> 00:34:15,136
instead of in the barracks,
661
00:34:15,136 --> 00:34:17,337
which enabled him to carry on his work.
662
00:34:17,337 --> 00:34:19,398
That was very important for the artist.
663
00:34:19,398 --> 00:34:20,403
- He saved him.
664
00:34:20,403 --> 00:34:21,605
He possibly saved him from death
665
00:34:21,605 --> 00:34:24,160
by looking after him and pulling him
666
00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:26,118
away from the front line.
667
00:34:26,118 --> 00:34:29,616
He commissioned a painting from him,
668
00:34:29,616 --> 00:34:33,699
and he already then started
collecting his works.
669
00:34:34,847 --> 00:34:37,430
- [Interpreter] Grunwald was
an extraordinary collector.
670
00:34:37,430 --> 00:34:38,896
He recognized Schiele's talent
671
00:34:38,896 --> 00:34:41,136
well before anybody else.
672
00:34:41,136 --> 00:34:43,098
As Schiele died at a very young age,
673
00:34:43,098 --> 00:34:46,912
just 27, his production
is relatively limited.
674
00:34:46,912 --> 00:34:49,254
Grunwald bought up a large
share of that production,
675
00:34:49,254 --> 00:34:51,995
a lot of paintings, supporting
him not only artistically,
676
00:34:51,995 --> 00:34:53,328
but morally too.
677
00:34:57,616 --> 00:35:00,214
- [Narrator] In 2005, there
were very few works by Schiele
678
00:35:00,214 --> 00:35:01,787
in circulation.
679
00:35:01,787 --> 00:35:03,616
The artist died aged 27,
680
00:35:03,616 --> 00:35:06,715
and his unknown paintings are very rare.
681
00:35:06,715 --> 00:35:08,955
Wilted Sunflowers
reappeared as if by magic
682
00:35:08,955 --> 00:35:10,619
in the suburb of Mulhouse
683
00:35:10,619 --> 00:35:11,856
in a furnished apartment bought
684
00:35:11,856 --> 00:35:13,274
through a life annuity scheme
685
00:35:13,274 --> 00:35:16,416
a few years earlier by
a working class family.
686
00:35:16,416 --> 00:35:17,494
- It was autumn.
687
00:35:17,494 --> 00:35:20,577
It was autumn 2005 when we came here.
688
00:35:24,290 --> 00:35:28,656
We received a call from
a lawyer here in Mulhouse
689
00:35:28,656 --> 00:35:31,414
who told us he had a client
690
00:35:31,414 --> 00:35:35,376
who had discovered
something in his apartment,
691
00:35:35,376 --> 00:35:38,709
and we should try and have a look at it.
692
00:35:44,534 --> 00:35:47,435
We just saw, it can't
be, it must be a fake,
693
00:35:47,435 --> 00:35:49,971
it must be a copy, a reproduction,
694
00:35:49,971 --> 00:35:52,251
I mean there are reproductions often,
695
00:35:52,251 --> 00:35:55,918
even early reproductions
of these paintings.
696
00:35:57,152 --> 00:36:01,174
It's a masterpiece, and
you don't find masterpieces
697
00:36:01,174 --> 00:36:02,424
just like that.
698
00:36:07,574 --> 00:36:10,157
We knew that if it was genuine,
699
00:36:11,159 --> 00:36:14,659
it would be worth several million dollars.
700
00:36:17,448 --> 00:36:20,948
(coffee machine whirring)
701
00:36:30,394 --> 00:36:32,774
And we walked up the stairs,
702
00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:35,472
and there was sort of light
coming through the window,
703
00:36:35,472 --> 00:36:37,462
and the picture was leaning on the wall,
704
00:36:37,462 --> 00:36:40,393
on the floor, against the wall,
705
00:36:40,393 --> 00:36:42,832
and we saw it, and literally,
706
00:36:42,832 --> 00:36:45,749
within seconds, we knew this is it.
707
00:36:47,430 --> 00:36:49,847
This is the long lost picture
708
00:36:50,736 --> 00:36:53,798
which hadn't been seen for 60 years,
709
00:36:53,798 --> 00:36:57,215
the original sunflower picture by Schiele
710
00:36:58,113 --> 00:36:59,591
painted in 1914.
711
00:36:59,591 --> 00:37:03,174
(light instrumental music)
712
00:37:16,307 --> 00:37:17,646
- [Narrator] For some
players and observers
713
00:37:17,646 --> 00:37:20,227
in the art world, the tale
of this magical reappearance
714
00:37:20,227 --> 00:37:24,394
orchestrated by Christie's is
almost too good to be true.
715
00:37:30,488 --> 00:37:35,310
- [Interpreter] I spoke
with his heirs in New York.
716
00:37:35,310 --> 00:37:38,808
And it's very probably
the official version,
717
00:37:38,808 --> 00:37:42,841
but in fact, it's just
a case of big business.
718
00:37:42,841 --> 00:37:46,174
- There's this young man, very nice guy,
719
00:37:48,147 --> 00:37:52,427
who owns this, he's in the
possession of this picture,
720
00:37:52,427 --> 00:37:54,266
and we know that the large family,
721
00:37:54,266 --> 00:37:59,230
the Grunwald family,
scattered all over the world,
722
00:37:59,230 --> 00:38:01,897
who are entitled to get it back.
723
00:38:10,910 --> 00:38:12,530
- [Interpreter] The case
of Wilted Sunflowers
724
00:38:12,530 --> 00:38:15,048
was a wonderful opportunity
for an auction house
725
00:38:15,048 --> 00:38:18,248
like Christie's to present
itself in the public's eyes
726
00:38:18,248 --> 00:38:20,792
as a key intermediary and the savior
727
00:38:20,792 --> 00:38:22,750
of an important work of art,
728
00:38:22,750 --> 00:38:26,167
so a great stroke of luck for Christie's.
729
00:38:28,131 --> 00:38:31,670
The painting had apparently
been missing for decades,
730
00:38:31,670 --> 00:38:34,507
and apparently, nobody knew where it was.
731
00:38:34,507 --> 00:38:35,909
Even the occupants of the apartment
732
00:38:35,909 --> 00:38:40,370
were oblivious to the
real nature of the work.
733
00:38:40,370 --> 00:38:42,552
Then an expert like
Christie's could come along
734
00:38:42,552 --> 00:38:44,670
and solve the case.
735
00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:46,389
The heirs were not even
given the opportunity
736
00:38:46,389 --> 00:38:49,556
to choose the solution they preferred.
737
00:38:55,928 --> 00:38:59,387
- It wasn't just about
giving it back, hopefully,
738
00:38:59,387 --> 00:39:03,208
finding a solution, but it also meant
739
00:39:03,208 --> 00:39:05,630
this picture was a symbol
740
00:39:05,630 --> 00:39:08,808
of bringing different generations
of the Grunwald family
741
00:39:08,808 --> 00:39:10,058
together again.
742
00:39:12,428 --> 00:39:15,345
They all knew this was the painting
743
00:39:16,248 --> 00:39:19,915
that grandfather had
always been looking for
744
00:39:20,846 --> 00:39:21,846
for decades.
745
00:39:25,688 --> 00:39:26,691
- [Interpreter] On this point,
746
00:39:26,691 --> 00:39:29,669
Christie's played a key role.
747
00:39:29,669 --> 00:39:32,472
In spite of everything,
Christie's did not just carry out
748
00:39:32,472 --> 00:39:34,930
a very positive advertising campaign,
749
00:39:34,930 --> 00:39:37,272
they also earned money.
750
00:39:37,272 --> 00:39:38,611
That might not have been necessary
751
00:39:38,611 --> 00:39:40,368
if they wanted to tell a really moving
752
00:39:40,368 --> 00:39:42,201
fairy tale type story.
753
00:39:44,611 --> 00:39:46,771
- We sold it then, six months later,
754
00:39:46,771 --> 00:39:50,311
for something like 21.7 million dollars,
755
00:39:50,311 --> 00:39:52,312
and yet we found it in an apartment
756
00:39:52,312 --> 00:39:56,479
which was worth a fraction
of this, a tiny fraction,
757
00:39:59,907 --> 00:40:02,510
so with the proceeds of the painting,
758
00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:05,411
it probably could've
bought the whole street.
759
00:40:05,411 --> 00:40:09,078
(lively instrumental music)
760
00:40:17,171 --> 00:40:20,110
The Grunwald family, they have wanted him
761
00:40:20,110 --> 00:40:23,752
to be at the table, and
we brought them together
762
00:40:23,752 --> 00:40:26,174
in London in a hotel nearby Christie's,
763
00:40:26,174 --> 00:40:30,472
and we were sitting
around a long oval table,
764
00:40:30,472 --> 00:40:33,966
I never forget that,
and there was a speech
765
00:40:33,966 --> 00:40:35,672
by one member of the family,
766
00:40:35,672 --> 00:40:39,339
and they welcomed him
as yet another member,
767
00:40:41,134 --> 00:40:43,310
as another part of the Grunwald family.
768
00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:44,333
It was very moving.
769
00:40:44,333 --> 00:40:46,583
It was extremely emotional.
770
00:40:48,131 --> 00:40:49,909
- [Interpreter] We don't know anything,
771
00:40:49,909 --> 00:40:51,214
and I'm sure that the people involved,
772
00:40:51,214 --> 00:40:53,630
because of the duty of confidentiality
773
00:40:53,630 --> 00:40:56,093
that is always written
into contracts like this,
774
00:40:56,093 --> 00:40:57,392
and which really must be respected
775
00:40:57,392 --> 00:41:00,030
to avoid facing major inconvenience,
776
00:41:00,030 --> 00:41:04,197
unfortunately will not enable
us to know the full truth.
777
00:41:06,730 --> 00:41:10,012
- Well, we don't talk about
how the case was settled,
778
00:41:10,012 --> 00:41:11,790
but they found an agreement.
779
00:41:11,790 --> 00:41:13,623
Let's put it this way.
780
00:41:15,616 --> 00:41:17,374
- [Interpreter] You'll
notice I'm smiling a little
781
00:41:17,374 --> 00:41:19,624
when you mention the story.
782
00:41:20,494 --> 00:41:22,661
It's not a rare situation.
783
00:41:25,491 --> 00:41:28,128
Auction houses or art
dealers contact the heirs
784
00:41:28,128 --> 00:41:30,545
of Jewish collectors and say,
785
00:41:32,035 --> 00:41:34,454
we know where your painting is.
786
00:41:34,454 --> 00:41:36,731
We can't tell you, but we can serve
787
00:41:36,731 --> 00:41:39,534
as an intermediary to reach an agreement,
788
00:41:39,534 --> 00:41:41,891
so that both you and the current owner
789
00:41:41,891 --> 00:41:43,724
benefit from the sale.
790
00:41:48,254 --> 00:41:50,894
It's very pragmatic, but legally,
791
00:41:50,894 --> 00:41:53,635
it's highly questionable
792
00:41:53,635 --> 00:41:56,094
because in my opinion, the Grunwald family
793
00:41:56,094 --> 00:41:59,011
should've recovered their property.
794
00:42:00,957 --> 00:42:01,955
It's quite common.
795
00:42:01,955 --> 00:42:03,875
We mustn't judge.
796
00:42:03,875 --> 00:42:06,214
The results speak for itself.
797
00:42:06,214 --> 00:42:08,934
The painting reappeared,
it became famous again
798
00:42:08,934 --> 00:42:12,684
after decades, it was
wrenched from oblivion,
799
00:42:15,715 --> 00:42:17,294
but the market spoke,
800
00:42:17,294 --> 00:42:18,574
and the market enabled the painting
801
00:42:18,574 --> 00:42:21,074
to obtain an incredible value.
802
00:42:22,552 --> 00:42:24,392
- We hope that this story
803
00:42:24,392 --> 00:42:27,112
will serve as an example
804
00:42:27,112 --> 00:42:30,445
for many other restitution cases to come
805
00:42:31,811 --> 00:42:34,894
that amicable solutions are possible.
806
00:42:38,574 --> 00:42:41,493
- [Narrator] 21.7 million euros.
807
00:42:41,493 --> 00:42:43,395
Whatever the mysterious arrangement was,
808
00:42:43,395 --> 00:42:46,395
that was the sum the auction raised.
809
00:42:49,715 --> 00:42:51,214
Meanwhile, the inquiry carried out
810
00:42:51,214 --> 00:42:53,192
by the investigating judge into Braque's
811
00:42:53,192 --> 00:42:55,776
Man With a Guitar dragged on.
812
00:42:55,776 --> 00:42:57,312
Discussions between the Pompidou Center
813
00:42:57,312 --> 00:43:00,496
and Alphonse Kann's heirs
remained highly charged.
814
00:43:00,496 --> 00:43:01,694
The accusation of concealment
815
00:43:01,694 --> 00:43:03,811
triggered lengthy research
that did not succeed
816
00:43:03,811 --> 00:43:05,891
in throwing light on historical haze
817
00:43:05,891 --> 00:43:10,058
surrounding the painting's
journey just after it was looted.
818
00:43:16,311 --> 00:43:18,931
- [Interpreter] The
accusation did not go through.
819
00:43:18,931 --> 00:43:20,630
The judge closed the case.
820
00:43:20,630 --> 00:43:23,054
At the time, the judge gave me a hearing.
821
00:43:23,054 --> 00:43:24,390
The study took a number of years
822
00:43:24,390 --> 00:43:26,515
and was never able to formally establish
823
00:43:26,515 --> 00:43:29,091
that at a particular moment in time,
824
00:43:29,091 --> 00:43:31,155
a deed of assignment had been organized
825
00:43:31,155 --> 00:43:34,192
between Alphonse Kann and a third party,
826
00:43:34,192 --> 00:43:36,851
so we concluded that
Alphonse Kann's beneficiaries
827
00:43:36,851 --> 00:43:40,535
should be given the benefit of the doubt.
828
00:43:40,535 --> 00:43:41,552
- [Interpreter] The Pompidou Center
829
00:43:41,552 --> 00:43:44,491
kept the painting and
indemnified the family.
830
00:43:44,491 --> 00:43:47,941
An agreement protocol was drawn up.
831
00:43:47,941 --> 00:43:49,118
- [Interpreter] The Kann
family certainly made
832
00:43:49,118 --> 00:43:50,951
the right decision that the painting
833
00:43:50,951 --> 00:43:53,268
should remain in the Pompidou Center.
834
00:43:53,268 --> 00:43:56,307
I think they were
extremely generous and fair
835
00:43:56,307 --> 00:44:00,372
in not making the maximum
amount of money out of it.
836
00:44:00,372 --> 00:44:01,910
I wouldn't be surprised, if today,
837
00:44:01,910 --> 00:44:03,335
a painting like that reached between
838
00:44:03,335 --> 00:44:05,634
70 and 80 million euros.
839
00:44:05,634 --> 00:44:07,911
You just don't find
paintings like that anymore.
840
00:44:07,911 --> 00:44:08,914
It's incredibly rare,
841
00:44:08,914 --> 00:44:10,692
and it's one of the symbols of a movement,
842
00:44:10,692 --> 00:44:15,174
if not the most important
movement of the 20th century.
843
00:44:15,174 --> 00:44:19,174
(man speaking foreign language)
844
00:44:28,685 --> 00:44:30,763
- [Interpreter] Today,
museums consider themselves
845
00:44:30,763 --> 00:44:34,888
responsible for the preservation of art.
846
00:44:34,888 --> 00:44:36,186
Many museums when confronted
847
00:44:36,186 --> 00:44:38,647
with request for restitution respond,
848
00:44:38,647 --> 00:44:41,304
for centuries we have saved, protected,
849
00:44:41,304 --> 00:44:43,971
and made these works accessible.
850
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,456
That's our mission, and
we don't want a painting
851
00:44:48,456 --> 00:44:50,898
which has since become extremely precious
852
00:44:50,898 --> 00:44:53,981
to disappear into the private sphere.
853
00:44:57,234 --> 00:45:01,394
- For museums, it has always
been a complicated matter,
854
00:45:01,394 --> 00:45:04,813
very complicated, because they do not deal
855
00:45:04,813 --> 00:45:09,016
with these paintings or
with these art objects
856
00:45:09,016 --> 00:45:11,554
as if they had been looted.
857
00:45:11,554 --> 00:45:14,994
They deal with them as
if they were in museums
858
00:45:14,994 --> 00:45:19,256
or not in museums, and we
know that many curators,
859
00:45:19,256 --> 00:45:22,303
once they have an object
inside the museum,
860
00:45:22,303 --> 00:45:24,030
it should never leave the museum
861
00:45:24,030 --> 00:45:25,947
under any circumstance.
862
00:45:27,262 --> 00:45:28,877
- [Interpreter] I do
understand the museums.
863
00:45:28,877 --> 00:45:30,258
It's hard for them to part with the works
864
00:45:30,258 --> 00:45:32,317
because they have been
hanging on their walls
865
00:45:32,317 --> 00:45:34,931
for 30 or 40 years, and all of a sudden,
866
00:45:34,931 --> 00:45:37,354
they're asked to give them back.
867
00:45:37,354 --> 00:45:40,696
Yet, ultimately, it didn't belong to them.
868
00:45:40,696 --> 00:45:42,536
They were its custodians.
869
00:45:42,536 --> 00:45:43,976
I understand their frustration,
870
00:45:43,976 --> 00:45:45,556
but it's also logical
that they return things
871
00:45:45,556 --> 00:45:47,098
that they do not belong to them
872
00:45:47,098 --> 00:45:49,515
if they're not really theirs.
873
00:45:51,976 --> 00:45:53,000
- [Narrator] Today, the case of Braque
874
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:55,237
still remains a highly sensitive affair
875
00:45:55,237 --> 00:45:57,874
in the memory of the Pompidou Center.
876
00:45:57,874 --> 00:46:00,114
After purchasing the painting in 1981,
877
00:46:00,114 --> 00:46:02,514
the museum had to pay a
second very large sum,
878
00:46:02,514 --> 00:46:04,137
confidential this time,
879
00:46:04,137 --> 00:46:07,887
to keep the work in the
national collections.
880
00:46:12,113 --> 00:46:13,853
The case of Paul Rosenberg's Matisse
881
00:46:13,853 --> 00:46:16,301
recounts a different story.
882
00:46:16,301 --> 00:46:18,514
The painting reappeared in 2012,
883
00:46:18,514 --> 00:46:20,910
ironically, in the same Pompidou Museum
884
00:46:20,910 --> 00:46:22,456
during a Matisse retrospective
885
00:46:22,456 --> 00:46:25,456
67 years after it first disappeared.
886
00:46:26,893 --> 00:46:29,394
Lent by a Norwegian foundation from Oslo,
887
00:46:29,394 --> 00:46:31,117
Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace
888
00:46:31,117 --> 00:46:35,284
was exhibited alongside dozens
of other works by Matisse.
889
00:46:36,786 --> 00:46:37,874
- [Interpreter] As it happened,
890
00:46:37,874 --> 00:46:39,554
I didn't know the list
of missing paintings
891
00:46:39,554 --> 00:46:41,810
off by heart, so I missed it.
892
00:46:41,810 --> 00:46:43,714
Luckily, certain specialists,
893
00:46:43,714 --> 00:46:45,898
in particular Emmanuel Pollack,
894
00:46:45,898 --> 00:46:48,291
noticed it and pointed it out.
895
00:46:48,291 --> 00:46:50,411
Our family was alerted
that there was a painting
896
00:46:50,411 --> 00:46:52,744
that belonged to the family.
897
00:46:53,933 --> 00:46:57,016
- We were contacted in spring of 2012
898
00:46:57,892 --> 00:47:01,973
by the lawyer of the
Rosenberg family in New York,
899
00:47:01,973 --> 00:47:06,296
and they presented us with
the papers from E.R.R.
900
00:47:06,296 --> 00:47:07,892
that are now in Washington
901
00:47:07,892 --> 00:47:11,234
and claimed that the painting was stolen.
902
00:47:11,234 --> 00:47:12,733
It was the first case in Norway,
903
00:47:12,733 --> 00:47:16,377
so it's of course a heavy
burden for a small museum
904
00:47:16,377 --> 00:47:19,794
to start investigating such a huge issue.
905
00:47:21,474 --> 00:47:22,472
- [Interpreter] When
you know the conditions
906
00:47:22,472 --> 00:47:23,630
the work was lost in,
907
00:47:23,630 --> 00:47:25,592
and that it was sold during the Nazi era,
908
00:47:25,592 --> 00:47:27,352
things become more complicated
909
00:47:27,352 --> 00:47:29,794
because we needed to trace the work of art
910
00:47:29,794 --> 00:47:31,474
during the ensuing 50 years
911
00:47:31,474 --> 00:47:33,150
even though it was sometimes sold
912
00:47:33,150 --> 00:47:37,794
four or five times, and
that's very difficult.
913
00:47:37,794 --> 00:47:40,573
- When we deframed the paintings,
914
00:47:40,573 --> 00:47:43,650
we couldn't find any traces or evidence
915
00:47:43,650 --> 00:47:46,176
of the history of the painting at all.
916
00:47:46,176 --> 00:47:48,754
The only mark on the back of the painting
917
00:47:48,754 --> 00:47:51,504
is a stamp for a Norwegian crown,
918
00:47:53,213 --> 00:47:54,848
so it's been brought into Norway.
919
00:47:54,848 --> 00:47:56,631
That's the only thing we know.
920
00:47:56,631 --> 00:47:58,450
- [Narrator] Like for Braque,
the heirs had to prove
921
00:47:58,450 --> 00:48:00,618
the Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace
922
00:48:00,618 --> 00:48:03,410
had indeed belonged to Paul Rosenberg.
923
00:48:03,410 --> 00:48:04,413
They had to provide proof
924
00:48:04,413 --> 00:48:06,653
that it had been in the vault in Libourne.
925
00:48:06,653 --> 00:48:08,530
At the archives of the French Ministry
926
00:48:08,530 --> 00:48:10,632
of Foreign Affairs,
Paul Rosenberg's actions
927
00:48:10,632 --> 00:48:13,770
can be traced as he set
out to find his canvases
928
00:48:13,770 --> 00:48:16,361
as soon as the war ended.
929
00:48:16,361 --> 00:48:19,208
- [Interpreter] There, there
is a very important note.
930
00:48:19,208 --> 00:48:22,376
So, vault of Libourne,
as indicated in my letter
931
00:48:22,376 --> 00:48:25,517
dated the 15th, the vault was forced open
932
00:48:25,517 --> 00:48:27,767
on the 28th of April, 1941.
933
00:48:29,898 --> 00:48:32,856
In the presence of the
occupying authorities.
934
00:48:32,856 --> 00:48:34,274
The contents of the vault were transferred
935
00:48:34,274 --> 00:48:36,973
to another vault, and an
inventory was drawn up
936
00:48:36,973 --> 00:48:39,610
by the director of the
Bordeaux School of Fine Arts,
937
00:48:39,610 --> 00:48:40,777
Mr. Roganneau.
938
00:48:48,136 --> 00:48:50,685
So here, you can clearly
see a painting by Matisse,
939
00:48:50,685 --> 00:48:53,117
Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace,
940
00:48:53,117 --> 00:48:56,367
measuring 60 by 81, does indeed feature
941
00:48:57,373 --> 00:49:00,170
in this inventory drawn up by Roganneau
942
00:49:00,170 --> 00:49:02,170
from the Libourne vault.
943
00:49:03,532 --> 00:49:05,736
We know that in September 1941,
944
00:49:05,736 --> 00:49:09,653
these works arrived at
the Jeu de Paume Museum.
945
00:49:13,234 --> 00:49:16,688
On the back of an information
card of a Matisse drawing,
946
00:49:16,688 --> 00:49:18,248
I see a list, an inventory
947
00:49:18,248 --> 00:49:21,512
with Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace
948
00:49:21,512 --> 00:49:25,679
with the inventory number of
Paul Rosenberg's collection,
949
00:49:27,192 --> 00:49:28,206
and the fact that it's presented
950
00:49:28,206 --> 00:49:29,789
with this sentence,
951
00:49:30,733 --> 00:49:33,794
taken either in Floirac or in Paris,
952
00:49:33,794 --> 00:49:35,752
leads me to believe that
it was not recovered
953
00:49:35,752 --> 00:49:38,289
after the war, but that
he was still searching
954
00:49:38,289 --> 00:49:39,456
for his works.
955
00:49:41,714 --> 00:49:44,714
(light piano music)
956
00:49:45,754 --> 00:49:46,896
- [Narrator] The presence of
957
00:49:46,896 --> 00:49:48,608
the Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace
958
00:49:48,608 --> 00:49:50,062
in the Libourne vault confirms
959
00:49:50,062 --> 00:49:52,562
it belonged to Paul Rosenberg.
960
00:49:54,926 --> 00:49:56,164
It remains to be determined
961
00:49:56,164 --> 00:49:58,025
whether or not at the
time of the acquisition
962
00:49:58,025 --> 00:50:02,192
the Henie Onstad couple knew
it was a looted painting.
963
00:50:05,444 --> 00:50:06,446
- [Interpreter] The painting entered
964
00:50:06,446 --> 00:50:09,284
the Norwegian foundation before the 1960s
965
00:50:09,284 --> 00:50:12,005
because between 1960 and 1963,
966
00:50:12,005 --> 00:50:15,886
I tracked it in the exhibition
catalogs about 17 times
967
00:50:15,886 --> 00:50:17,305
which makes me think the couple,
968
00:50:17,305 --> 00:50:22,286
the owners of the work,
were acting in good faith.
969
00:50:22,286 --> 00:50:24,226
Because when you lend a work,
970
00:50:24,226 --> 00:50:27,582
you're not afraid to exhibit it.
971
00:50:27,582 --> 00:50:31,044
You're not afraid of claims by the family,
972
00:50:31,044 --> 00:50:32,804
so they didn't know.
973
00:50:32,804 --> 00:50:35,604
- The thing about researching the history
974
00:50:35,604 --> 00:50:37,822
is that you can never be sure.
975
00:50:37,822 --> 00:50:40,766
You have to make a decision
upon the facts you have,
976
00:50:40,766 --> 00:50:43,124
and depending on them, you decide
977
00:50:43,124 --> 00:50:47,086
whether or not to return
an artwork like we did,
978
00:50:47,086 --> 00:50:51,624
and so it will always
be a part of the history
979
00:50:51,624 --> 00:50:53,874
that is not really covered.
980
00:50:57,540 --> 00:50:58,942
- [Interpreter] The return
of the Rosenberg collection
981
00:50:58,942 --> 00:51:02,121
Matisse painting by a
private Norwegian museum
982
00:51:02,121 --> 00:51:05,454
is a highly unusual case of restitution.
983
00:51:09,780 --> 00:51:12,258
Unusual because, and
I find it astonishing,
984
00:51:12,258 --> 00:51:14,798
albeit very positive,
the private foundation
985
00:51:14,798 --> 00:51:16,660
declared it was prepared to return
986
00:51:16,660 --> 00:51:19,403
a work in its possession
to the Rosenberg family
987
00:51:19,403 --> 00:51:23,403
without being obliged to
do so by Norwegian law.
988
00:51:27,028 --> 00:51:30,537
- It was a sad moment
seeing the painting leave,
989
00:51:30,537 --> 00:51:33,577
but I'm sure that we did the right thing,
990
00:51:33,577 --> 00:51:35,780
and that's the most
important for the institution
991
00:51:35,780 --> 00:51:36,697
and for me.
992
00:51:38,201 --> 00:51:39,463
- [Interpreter] It's very moving
993
00:51:39,463 --> 00:51:42,105
to find a canvas like that
994
00:51:42,105 --> 00:51:45,764
because you wonder what
it has lived through,
995
00:51:45,764 --> 00:51:48,307
what vicissitudes it went through
996
00:51:48,307 --> 00:51:51,460
since it was painted in Matisse's studio
997
00:51:51,460 --> 00:51:53,599
and was taken directly
from Matisse's studio
998
00:51:53,599 --> 00:51:56,264
to my grandfather's gallery.
999
00:51:56,264 --> 00:51:58,830
Then suddenly, the war arrived,
1000
00:51:58,830 --> 00:52:01,387
and it got caught up in the turmoil,
1001
00:52:01,387 --> 00:52:03,129
passing from a Gestapo lorry
1002
00:52:03,129 --> 00:52:06,046
to warehouses guarded by the Nazis,
1003
00:52:07,588 --> 00:52:09,723
and from there, to shady dealers
1004
00:52:09,723 --> 00:52:11,473
who conjured it away,
1005
00:52:12,765 --> 00:52:15,003
so it has an incredible story.
1006
00:52:15,003 --> 00:52:18,503
(soft instrumental music)
1007
00:52:23,484 --> 00:52:24,889
The looting of works of art
1008
00:52:24,889 --> 00:52:29,265
remains a symbol of what
the Nazis tried to do,
1009
00:52:29,265 --> 00:52:31,230
what they failed to do,
1010
00:52:31,230 --> 00:52:34,273
and what the Allies tried to restore,
1011
00:52:34,273 --> 00:52:36,836
the plundering of European culture.
1012
00:52:36,836 --> 00:52:40,336
(soft instrumental music)
1013
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:13,187
(lively instrumental music)
74912
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