Eight European Masterpieces Now Housed in US Museums

A new article highlights eight major European artworks that have found homes in American museums, often through complex histories of collecting, political upheaval, and restitution. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC holds Leonardo da Vinci's "Ginevra de' Benci" (purchased in 1967 from Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein), Jan van Eyck's "The Annunciation" (bought by Andrew Mellon from the Soviet Hermitage Museum in 1930), and Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with the Red Hat" (acquired by Mellon in 1925). The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York owns Rembrandt's "Aristotle with a Bust of Homer" (1653, commissioned by a Sicilian patron) and the Temple of Dendur (gifted by Egypt in 1965). The Museum of Modern Art holds Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (acquired in 1939 via the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest) and Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" (acquired in 1941 via the same bequest). The Neue Galerie in New York displays Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" (1907), which was looted by the Nazis, restituted to Maria Altmann, and purchased by Ronald S. Lauder in 2006. These works underscore how American museums built world-class collections through strategic acquisitions during the 20th century.