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National Museum Recuperation (MNR or Musées nationaux récupération) is the French state organization that manages the looted artworks recovered from Nazi Germany and returned to France after the Second World War. Of 61,000 looted artworks returned to France, 2143 remain in custody of the MNR. [1]
After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, 61,000 plundered artworks recovered by the Allied Monuments Men in Germany were returned to France which was responsible for restituting them to their original owners. 45,000 artworks were returned to their owners, while others were entrusted to the custody of the national museums. These artworks constitute what are called MNRs for Musées Nationaux Récuperation, ("National Museums Recuperation"). [2] [3] [4]
The acronym MNR refers to all these works, around 2000, but also constitutes the prefix of the inventory numbers of the only old paintings entrusted to the Department of Paintings of the Louvre (about half of all the works). Jewish art collectors in all countries occupied by Nazi Germany were targeted for looting. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] In France, Jews were plundered by the Nazi looting organisations known as the E.R.R. ( Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg) and M-Aktion, and well as by the French occupation authorities. [12] [13] [14]
Artworks in the MNR are supposed to be researched and returned their legitimate owners if they can be located. [15] [16]
The 2131 MNR artworks, are kept at the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art and in other museums throughout France. [17] [18] France has published an online database of MNR artworks at the Site Rose-Valland Musées Nationaux Récupération [19]
From the beginning of the occupation, the German embassy in Paris, and its representative, Otto Abetz, under the pretext of "securing" art, organized major seizures of art collection. [20] In September 1940, the responsibility for plundering artworks of Jewish art collectors shifted to the nazi looting organisation known as the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg or Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce or (ERR). In France, looted art was inventoried initially at the Louvre, then at the Jeu de Paume which was made available to the ERR in November 1940. Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering visited frequently to select artworks for his own personal collection. [21]
After cataloguing, the confiscated objects left for the Louvre where they were crated before being shipped. Between April 1941 and July 1944, the ERR sent 138 wagons to Germany containing 4,174 cases, or about 22,000 lots. [22]
The decree of September 30, 1949 which puts an end to the Commission de récupération artistique (CRA) obliges the administration of museums to create a specific inventory on which will be registered the works selected by the selection commissions, then entrusted by the OBIP to the custody of the museums. [23] The museums decide to inventory them under the acronym R of "recovery". [24]
Les sigles des objets au Louvre sont :
Les sigles au Musée national d'art moderne sont :
In 2017, the Louvre museum dedicated two new rooms to present 31 paintings from artistic recovery (MNR) in addition to the 76 paintings presented in the permanent museum tour, accompanied by a specific mention indicating their origin. [25]
.
Until the recent creation of public databases, the MNR, along with other institutions formally responsible for restituting looted artworks, were the object of criticisms for opacity and inefficiency. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]
A few examples of restitutions include:
After World War II, 61,000 works of art were retrieved in Germany and brought back to France. Many had been stolen from Jewish families. To date, more than 45,000 have been returned to their rightful owners. Unclaimed works were sold by the French State, with the exception of 2,143 objects placed under the legal responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entrusted to French national museums for safekeeping. These works are not the property of the State.
Abetz Otto. German Ambassador to France. Connected with the early seizures of Jewish art collections, particularly through the Kunsberg organisation.
Des milliers de Juifs ont été spoliés de leurs biens sous l'Occupation. Parmi ces biens, de nombreuses œuvres d'art qui ont parfois intégré des musées par la suite. Aujourd'hui, de nombreuses familles demandent leur restitution. Une procédure longue et dont le succès est incertain.
Critics, while praising the intention, say the new rooms represent a missed opportunity because they do little to further the search for the rightful owners of the paintings or their heirs.
Publié le 01.12.2020 Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, ministre de la Culture, se réjouit de la restitution, le 29 octobre 2020, de 7 œuvres d'art aux ayants droit de Marguerite Stern, et salue l'action des services du ministère de la Culture, du musée du Louvre, du musée d'Orsay et de la direction des archives du ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, qui y ont œuvré.
Le ministère de la Culture a annoncé la semaine dernière la restitution, le 7 février 2022, de deux œuvres spoliées aux ayants droit de Gabrielle Philippson (1880-1941), fille du banquier belge Frank Philippson, membre du Consistoire israélite de Belgique et président de la Communauté juive de Bruxelles. Il s'agit d'une peinture de l'école italienne du XVIIe siècle et d'une tapisserie de la manufacture des Gobelins, datée du XVIIIe siècle, toutes deux vendues sous la contrainte et pillées par les nazis dans l'appartement parisien Gabrielle Philippson en août 1942. Retrouvées en Allemagne à la fin de la Seconde guerre mondiale et rapportées en France, elles étaient inscrites sur l'inventaire de la « récupération artistique » et appartenaient aux biens dits « Musées Nationaux Récupérations » (MNR), sous les numéros MNR 32 et OAR 64.
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (June 2021) |
National Museum Recuperation (MNR or Musées nationaux récupération) is the French state organization that manages the looted artworks recovered from Nazi Germany and returned to France after the Second World War. Of 61,000 looted artworks returned to France, 2143 remain in custody of the MNR. [1]
After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, 61,000 plundered artworks recovered by the Allied Monuments Men in Germany were returned to France which was responsible for restituting them to their original owners. 45,000 artworks were returned to their owners, while others were entrusted to the custody of the national museums. These artworks constitute what are called MNRs for Musées Nationaux Récuperation, ("National Museums Recuperation"). [2] [3] [4]
The acronym MNR refers to all these works, around 2000, but also constitutes the prefix of the inventory numbers of the only old paintings entrusted to the Department of Paintings of the Louvre (about half of all the works). Jewish art collectors in all countries occupied by Nazi Germany were targeted for looting. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] In France, Jews were plundered by the Nazi looting organisations known as the E.R.R. ( Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg) and M-Aktion, and well as by the French occupation authorities. [12] [13] [14]
Artworks in the MNR are supposed to be researched and returned their legitimate owners if they can be located. [15] [16]
The 2131 MNR artworks, are kept at the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art and in other museums throughout France. [17] [18] France has published an online database of MNR artworks at the Site Rose-Valland Musées Nationaux Récupération [19]
From the beginning of the occupation, the German embassy in Paris, and its representative, Otto Abetz, under the pretext of "securing" art, organized major seizures of art collection. [20] In September 1940, the responsibility for plundering artworks of Jewish art collectors shifted to the nazi looting organisation known as the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg or Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce or (ERR). In France, looted art was inventoried initially at the Louvre, then at the Jeu de Paume which was made available to the ERR in November 1940. Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering visited frequently to select artworks for his own personal collection. [21]
After cataloguing, the confiscated objects left for the Louvre where they were crated before being shipped. Between April 1941 and July 1944, the ERR sent 138 wagons to Germany containing 4,174 cases, or about 22,000 lots. [22]
The decree of September 30, 1949 which puts an end to the Commission de récupération artistique (CRA) obliges the administration of museums to create a specific inventory on which will be registered the works selected by the selection commissions, then entrusted by the OBIP to the custody of the museums. [23] The museums decide to inventory them under the acronym R of "recovery". [24]
Les sigles des objets au Louvre sont :
Les sigles au Musée national d'art moderne sont :
In 2017, the Louvre museum dedicated two new rooms to present 31 paintings from artistic recovery (MNR) in addition to the 76 paintings presented in the permanent museum tour, accompanied by a specific mention indicating their origin. [25]
.
Until the recent creation of public databases, the MNR, along with other institutions formally responsible for restituting looted artworks, were the object of criticisms for opacity and inefficiency. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]
A few examples of restitutions include:
After World War II, 61,000 works of art were retrieved in Germany and brought back to France. Many had been stolen from Jewish families. To date, more than 45,000 have been returned to their rightful owners. Unclaimed works were sold by the French State, with the exception of 2,143 objects placed under the legal responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entrusted to French national museums for safekeeping. These works are not the property of the State.
Abetz Otto. German Ambassador to France. Connected with the early seizures of Jewish art collections, particularly through the Kunsberg organisation.
Des milliers de Juifs ont été spoliés de leurs biens sous l'Occupation. Parmi ces biens, de nombreuses œuvres d'art qui ont parfois intégré des musées par la suite. Aujourd'hui, de nombreuses familles demandent leur restitution. Une procédure longue et dont le succès est incertain.
Critics, while praising the intention, say the new rooms represent a missed opportunity because they do little to further the search for the rightful owners of the paintings or their heirs.
Publié le 01.12.2020 Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, ministre de la Culture, se réjouit de la restitution, le 29 octobre 2020, de 7 œuvres d'art aux ayants droit de Marguerite Stern, et salue l'action des services du ministère de la Culture, du musée du Louvre, du musée d'Orsay et de la direction des archives du ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, qui y ont œuvré.
Le ministère de la Culture a annoncé la semaine dernière la restitution, le 7 février 2022, de deux œuvres spoliées aux ayants droit de Gabrielle Philippson (1880-1941), fille du banquier belge Frank Philippson, membre du Consistoire israélite de Belgique et président de la Communauté juive de Bruxelles. Il s'agit d'une peinture de l'école italienne du XVIIe siècle et d'une tapisserie de la manufacture des Gobelins, datée du XVIIIe siècle, toutes deux vendues sous la contrainte et pillées par les nazis dans l'appartement parisien Gabrielle Philippson en août 1942. Retrouvées en Allemagne à la fin de la Seconde guerre mondiale et rapportées en France, elles étaient inscrites sur l'inventaire de la « récupération artistique » et appartenaient aux biens dits « Musées Nationaux Récupérations » (MNR), sous les numéros MNR 32 et OAR 64.