Art Institute of Chicago Restitutes Metzinger Cubist Painting to Lewenstein Heirs
The Art Institute of Chicago has decided to return Jean Metzinger's 1913 artwork, Woman With a Fan, to the descendants of Emanuel Lewenstein, a Jewish art collector who faced persecution during the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. This painting was sold at auction in Amsterdam in October 1940, shortly after the Nazi invasion. The museum classified this sale as coerced due to the circumstances of Nazi oppression. Jacques Schuhmacher, who leads provenance research, indicated it was likely either confiscated or sold under duress. The museum obtained the painting in 1959, and researchers confirmed its connection to the Lewenstein family. Stuart Eizenstat commended the museum's efforts. The Lewenstein family continues to search for around 100 missing artworks. In a separate case, a New York court ruled against the seizure of Egon Schiele's drawing on 17 September.
Key facts
- The Art Institute of Chicago will restitute Jean Metzinger's 1913 painting Woman With a Fan to the heirs of Emanuel Lewenstein.
- The painting was auctioned in Amsterdam in October 1940, months after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands.
- The museum determined the sale was a forced sale due to Nazi persecution, according to Jacques Schuhmacher, head of provenance research.
- Paul Citroen acquired the painting in 1919; Emanuel Lewenstein bought it from him in 1928.
- The Art Institute of Chicago acquired the work in 1959 from a New York gallery.
- Infrared photography revealed faint pencil marks on the back, including Paul Citroen's name, linking the painting to the Lewenstein family.
- Stuart Eizenstat praised the museum's cooperation as a model for restitution practices.
- Wassily Kandinsky's The Colourful Life (1907), also from the 1940 sale, will be auctioned at Christie's in London on 14 October, expected to raise over $30m.
- The Lewenstein family is still seeking around 100 missing works, per James Palmer of Mondex Corporation.
- A New York appeals court ruled on 17 September that the Manhattan district attorney's office overstepped by seizing Egon Schiele's 1916 drawing Russian War Prisoner from the Art Institute.
Entities
Artists
- Jean Metzinger
- Emanuel Lewenstein
- Paul Citroen
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Egon Schiele
- Jacques Schuhmacher
- Stuart Eizenstat
- James Palmer
- Sigmund Kunstadter
- Catherine Hickley
- Ambar Colón
- Christian Thorsberg
- James Rondeau
Institutions
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Stedelijk Museum
- Christie's
- Lenbachhaus
- Mondex Corporation
- Manhattan district attorney's office
- Artists Rights Society
- ADAGP
- Frederik Muller
- Goudstikker collection
- Art Newspaper
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Smithsonian Magazine
Locations
- Chicago
- United States
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Paris
- France
- London
- United Kingdom
- Munich
- Germany
- New York
- Toronto
- Canada
- Iowa
- Texas