Portrait of a woman with a little dog and View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug

Advice concerning the application for restitution of NK 2181 and NK 2115

Portrait of a woman with a little dog and View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug

Report number: RC 1.5

Advice type: NK collection

Advice date: 23 September 2002

Period of loss of ownership: 1940-1945

Original owner: Private individual

Location of loss of ownership: The Netherlands

NK 2181 – Portrait of a woman with a small dog , anonymous (photo: RCE)

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Recommendation

By letter of 2 April 2002 the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science asked the Committee for advice about the decision to be taken concerning the application filed on 7 February 2002 by P.H., on behalf of the heirs of Mr J. H., for restitution of the paintings “Portrait of a Woman with a Little Dog” (NK 2181) and “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115).

The facts

In connection with the application for restitution, an investigation into the facts was carried out by order of the Restitutions Committee. The findings of the investigation were included in a research report dated 4 September 2002, which was sent to the applicant. In a letter dated 14 September 2002 Mr P.H., on the Committee’s request, stated to have filed his application also on behalf of the heirs of Mrs L. H.

General considerations

The Committee has drawn up its opinion with due regard for the relevant lines of policy issued by the Ekkart Committee and the government.

The Committee asked itself whether it is acceptable that an opinion to be issued is influenced by its potential consequences for decisions in other cases. The Committee resolved that such influence cannot be accepted, save cases where special circumstances apply, since allowing such influence would be impossible to justify to the applicant concerned.

The Committee then asked itself how to deal with the circumstance that certain facts can no longer be traced, that certain data has been lost or has not been retrieved, or that evidence can no longer be otherwise compiled. On this issue the Committee believes that, if the problems that have arisen can be attributed at least in part to the lapse of time, the associated risk should be borne by the government, save cases where exceptional circumstances apply.

Finally, the Committee believes that insights and circumstances which, according to generally accepted views, have evidently changed since the Second World War should be granted the status of new facts.

Special considerations

The applicant must be regarded as a representative of both the heirs of Mr J. H. and of the latter’s sister-in-law, Mrs L. H.
The research report mentioned above indicates that Mr J. H. was the owner of “Portrait of a Woman with a Little Dog” (NK 2181) and, furthermore, that Mrs L. H. must be regarded as the owner of the painting “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115).
The two paintings were involuntarily lost from Mr J. H.’s and Mrs L. H.’s estates as a result of persecution by the Nazi regime.
The H. family’s claims of title to “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115) were acknowledged by the Dutch authorities after the war. In the Committee’s view, changed insights into the financial conditions imposed upon the H. family after the war constitute ‘new facts’ as referred to in the policy. The application for restitution is therefore allowable.
Given that no previous applications for restitution of “Portrait of a Woman with a Little Dog” have been filed (NK 2181), this application for restitution is allowable as well.
One problem concerning “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115) is the circumstance that although restitution is fully allowable, the painting itself has proved to be untraceable. Consequently, in its conclusion the Committee cannot advise that it should be returned but will have to restrict itself to an opinion to the effect that the claim by the heirs of Mrs L. H. should be honoured in the form of an indemnification in case the painting continues to be untraceable.
Since no evidence has been found to suggest that the sales proceeds were transferred to the owner at any point in time, no refund can be claimed.

Conclusion

In view of the above the Committee advises the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science to return the painting “Portrait of a Woman with a Little Dog” (NK 2181) to the heirs of Mr J. H. and indemnify the heirs of Mrs L. H. with respect to “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115).

Adopted at the meeting of 23 September 2002.

J.M. Polak (Chairman)
B.J. Asscher (Vice Chairman)
J.Th.M. Bank
J.C.M. Leijten
E.J. van Straaten
H.M. Verrijn Stuart

Summary RC 1.5

“PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN WITH A LITTLE DOG” (NK 2181) AND “VIEW OF BINNEN-AMSTEL AND THE BLAUWBRUG ” (NK 2115)

In his letter dated 2 April 2002, the State secretary asked the committee for advice on the application for the restitution of the paintings “Portrait of a woman with a little dog” (NK 2181) and “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115) that had formerly been in the possession of the H. family. This was based on an application for restitution by the H. heirs to the State secretary for OCenW dated 7 February 2002.

Summary of documentary report

Until the war, both “Portrait of a woman with a little dog” and “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” had been part of the very extensive collection of the Jewish H. family. This ownership was evidenced by various recovered lists and documents. When war broke out, the family stored the collection in a safe before managing to flee to Switzerland. During the war, in 1943, the safe was broken open, by order of the occupying forces. The individual works of art, 126 in number, then found their way into the hands of various buyers at home and abroad. These events are documented in a protocol (and in other documents) that was drawn up when the safe was broken open during the war.

After the war, both paintings, together with five other works from the H. collection, were recovered in Germany and returned to the Netherlands. After the war, the original owners of the collection, Mr. and Mrs. H., submitted an application for the restoration of rights. However, the family felt that the conditions imposed on them for the restitution of the paintings were unacceptable. These conditions consisted of payment to the SNK of the cash sum that appeared to have been credited to an account at the Liro-bank held in the H. family’s name for the resale of the paintings during the war, plus the repayment of the administration costs for the recovery.

Of the total of seven works recovered after the war that had been owned by the H. family, five were auctioned off by the Dutch State in the 1950s. Since that time, the two paintings to which the application related had been part of the Dutch national art collection. However, during the investigation it was discovered that one of the two paintings, “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug “, could not be found. According to information from the painting’s borrower, the Ministry of Defence, the painting had disappeared during the period 1996-2001 under circumstances that are still unclear. The administrator of the NK collection, the ICN, believes that there is only a very small chance that this work can still be recovered.

Advice

In its advice, decided on during the meeting on 23 September 2002, the committee recommanded that the painting “Portrait of a woman with a little dog” (NK 2181) should be returned to the heirs of Mr. J. H. In respect of the “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug ” (NK 2115), it recommended that the heirs of Mrs. L. H.-W. be compensated.

The Restitutions Committee’s first consideration in reaching the above conclusion was that the H. family could be deemed to be the owner of both paintings. The committee also deemed the loss of possession during the war to be involuntary. The changed insights regarding the financial conditions imposed on the restitution after the war should in this case be seen as new facts within the context of the current restitution policy, which meant that in principle the application for restitution could be granted. However, should the painting “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” prove untraceable, so that no actual restitution could take place, the committee felt that compensation should be paid. Since it could not be proven that the owner had at any time received the sales proceeds, in the committee’s opinion there could be no question of demanding repayment of the proceeds.

By means of his letter dated 26 November 2002, the State secretary reported to the Restitutions Committee that he would adopt its advice in respect of the painting “Portrait of a woman with a little dog” (NK 2181). In respect of “View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug” (NK 2115), the State secretary informed the committee that he felt further policy rules should be instated before making his decision. So far, this decision has been adjourned.

After an article on the case in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper on 2 December 2002, the committee received information on the possible location of the painting, but this did not lead to the recovery of the painting. The Restitutions Committee does not know whether the painting has now been traced or whether it must be definitively deemed to be lost.

Recommendation: Portrait of a woman with a little dog and View of Binnen-Amstel and the Blauwbrug