The painting Bild mit Häusern (1909) by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was sold to a private collector for more than sixty million euros after the mediation of a large auction house. Those involved in the sale have this opposite NRC declared.
The painting was on display in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam until the end of February last year. The municipality, formal owner of the canvas, handed over the masterpiece to the heirs of the last Jewish owner. He had taken it to an Amsterdam auction house in October 1940. There it went under the hammer for 160 guilders.
The sale price makes this Kandinsky the most valuable painting that has ever been restituted in the Netherlands.
Five claimants
After a dragging battle that lasted nine years, the proceeds of the painting will be divided between various parties involved. First, about the five claimants. These are the two American grandchildren of the Amsterdam sewing machine manufacturer Emanuel Lewenstein (1870-1930), who bought the painting in 1923, and the three Dutch children of Elsa Guidotti. She was the last girlfriend of a man who lived for decades with Irma Klein (1902-1983), the last Jewish owner of the painting.
An unknown part of the more than 60 million will go to Mondex, a Canadian firm specializing in looted art restitution. The company saw potential in the painting and sought out the claimants.
Initially, the Kandinsky seemed to remain in the Amsterdam museum. In 2018, the Restitutions Committee, the organization that advises the minister on restitution requests, ruled that the municipality could keep the painting. After a thorough investigation, it remained unclear whether in 1940 there was involuntary loss of possession, the most important criterion for restitution.
The more than 60 million euros makes this Kan-dinsky the most valuable painting that has ever been restituted in the Netherlands
In its advice, the Committee had taken into account that the Kandinsky was of greater importance to the museum than to the Klein heirs, the only claimants who mattered to the Committee. According to the advice, they had no “emotional or other intense connection” with the painting.
With this weighing of interests, the committee drew sharp criticism, especially from abroad. The minister then ordered an evaluation of Dutch restitution policy. A report with conclusions and recommendations was published in December 2020, led by lawyer Jacob Kohnstamm, which were adopted by the government three months later. From now on, a weighing of interests was no longer allowed to play a role in applications for restitution. In addition, the old return policy was too formalistic and insufficiently empathetic.
The municipality of Amsterdam endorsed the recommendations of the Kohnstamm Committee and wanted the Restitutions Committee to rule again on the previously rejected restitution request for the Kandinsky. The heirs were unhappy about that. They believed that it was clear that with the new criteria the committee would make a refund. In the summer of 2021, Mayor Halsema and her council appeared to have come to the same conclusion. It college informed proceed to restitution, without again asking the restitution committee for advice.
When the painting was handed over in February of 2022, several lawyers specializing in looted art said they were surprised by this decision. They believe that the question is whether the new-style Restitutions Committee would have come to a different opinion on the Kandinsky. After all, without a weighing of interests, the question of the involuntary loss of possession would still not have been answered.
Consequences
The evaluation report of the Kohnstamm Committee had consequences for the Restitutions Committee. The day before the publication, in December 2020, then chairman Alfred Hammerstein resigned. He was succeeded ten months later by the lawyer who had headed the evaluation committee, Jacob Kohnstamm. Kohnstamm recently resigned after a year and a half and only seven recommendations. He did this together with Vice-President Els Swaab. The reason: “An internal matter.” Neither protagonist nor their committee members want to comment on the matter, “for the sake of due diligence”. They do underline, in a statement by the committee, that their departure will not change the substantive course that has been set. Kohnstamm has since been succeeded by Dick Oostinga, lawyer and former civil-law notary.
Read also: Kandinsky leaves the Stedelijk Museum