One of the paintings exhibited at the Château Musée de Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) will leave the premises very soon to be returned to its beneficiaries. The painting painted by Alfred Sisley had been kept within the walls of the Dieppe museum for 70 years. It was plundered by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. One of his beneficiaries was there.
It’s a moment that Léonor has been waiting for for many years. Finding yourself in front of this painting by Alfred Sisley, which belonged to his great-uncle Grégoire Schustermann. A Jewish art dealer who had to part with it during the Second World War.
“It’s very moving, it’s about honoring the history and passion of the family and of Grégoire Schustermann,” spear Léonor Lopez-Albagli. “We had initiated a request for restitution immediately after the war, but we can imagine that at that time, he was afraid of being refused. A new request was made recently and it was made possible”.
This painting, painted in 1887 by the British artist, is named “Les Péniches”, the port it represents is not identified with certainty. What we do know, however, is his journey after being taken over by Nazi Germany.
“The property was found and identified in Germany and repatriated to France in the early 1950s,” explain Pauline Le Jossic, deputy director at the Dieppe castle museum. “It was first attributed to the Dieppe museum by the Louvre museum which deposited it that year and then the Orsay museum took over the management of this painting and extended the deposit within the de Dieppe”
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Stolen during the Second World War, a painting by Sisley exhibited in Dieppe will be returned to his heirs
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Works like those by Albert Sisley, which are waiting to find their rightful owners and listed in the inventory of Musées Nationaux Récupération or MNR assets, are 7 in number at the Château Musée de Dieppe.
“It is part of the missions of a museum like that of Dieppe to preserve these works before their restitution and to keep them in good conditions”continues Pauline Le Jossic.
Albert Sisley’s painting is still on display until May 16. It will then be recovered by teams from the Musée d’Orsay before being definitively returned to the rights holders by the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati.
In France, it is estimated that 100,000 works of art were stolen during the Second World War. At the Armistice, Germany returned to France nearly 60,000 paintings stolen during the Occupation. 45,000 have been reunited with their owners.
Also in Rouen, since 2022, the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts has been engaged in a global research approach on its collection.
Two impressionist works by Renoir and Guillaumain are cases of proven spoliation. A portrait of Guilaumain’s wife sewing is a painting stolen from its owner during the 39/45 war.
If someone claims a painting, they must provide proof through documents or photographs. The museum will take care of the procedures. There is also the possibility of consulting the ministry’s website where a portal is dedicated to looted works.
