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December 5, 2000

CONTENTS:




artworks recuperated from Germany to the Netherlands

From: "ICB Herkomst gezocht" herkomstgezocht@minocw.nl
Subject:

Herkomst Gezocht Deelrapportage (Origins Unknown)

Date sent: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 13:45:51 +0100
Dear Sir/Madam,
It is our great pleasure to hereby present you the link to the second Ekkart Committee interim report 'Herkomst Gezocht' (Origins Unknown). You can download the interim report from http://www.minocw.nl/cultuur.htmwith 'acrobat reader'. There is an english foreword from page 245.
The Ekkart Committee studies the provenance of artworks which were recuperated from Germany to the Netherlands after World War II. The research itself is carried out by the Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown) project group. This interim report includes the results of the research into the provenance of 460 paintings from the NK collection [Art Property Foundation Collection]. The NK collection, which comprises 4,217 artworks is now under government custody in the Instituut Collectie Nederland [Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage]. The following interim reports will deal with the provenance of the remaining parts of the NK collection.
Yours sincerely,
On behalf of the Herkomst Gezocht/Origins Unknown project group

Deelrapportage Bureau Herkomst Gezocht oktober 2000

ORIGINS UNKNOWN

Foreword

This is the second interim report of the Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown) project which deals with the provenance of the 460 paintings which were researched over the past year. The report only contains paintings because a new method has been developed for objects of applied art whereby basic documentation is first drawn up for all the objects. 1,083 objects including 696 paintings and 387 objects of applied art from the total of 4,217 objects in the NK collection have been researched so far. Once again, the Herkomst Gezocht project office, which operates under the supervision of the Inspectie Cultuurbezit [Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage], has attempted to reconstruct the paintings' whereabouts from the period preceding World War II up until the point in time that the works entered Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit (SNK)'s [Netherlands Art Property Foundation] custody. Many provenances continue to display marked lacunae. On the one hand, the fact that new archives are becoming available helps fill in these gaps and on the other, these new archives mean that the research time required for a single object has now become considerably longer than was expected when the project started. This is why the chairman of the supervisory committee turned to the Secretary of State for Culture in December 1999 with the request that the project be expanded both in terms of time and staffing. The Secretary of State has since promised the funds required in order to appoint two part-time researchers, Mrs C. van den Donk and Mrs R. van Egmond and a document expert, Mrs C. Thoen and to continue the project until late December 2002. This allows the provenance of all the objects in the NK collection to be equally thoroughly examined. Moreover, the Secretary of State has given his permission for the setting up of a website. The site will consist of all the data published pertaining to the provenance of the objects in both English and Dutch and will be accessible via a database among other things. The website is expected to be up and running by the Spring of 2001. The website will also make it easier for the families of the dispossessed and foreign researchers to respond to the information uncovered. Only a few responses have been received with regard to the information published so far, possibly because these were not very accessible due to the way in which they were presented. The crucial moments during the war years in which the whereabouts of an object were unknown were under-emphasised in the large mass of information. That is why the layout of the reports has been changed so that it is now easier to see where a particular object was at a particular time. The date preceding the location is displayed as Year/Month/Day. We hope that people who find clues in the data we have published or have further information with regard to a particular painting or on owners will respond and make their information available to the project. That is also why we have included photographs in this interim report of those paintings of which the provenance has serious lacunae or of which the processing by the SNK after the war is unclear to us. Incidentally, pictures of all the paintings are included in the catalogue Old Master Paintings, An Illustrated Summary Catalogue, Zwolle, 1992; which is referred to as ISC in the report. This catalogue can be accessed at public libraries, a large number of museum libraries and the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie [Netherlands Institute for Art History] in The Hague. Photographs of all the objects will be added to the Herkomst Gezocht website. In a while, the first results of the historical research into the manner in which Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit acted will be submitted to the supervisory committee. On the basis of this research the committee will decide whether the recommendations it made occasioned by the pilot study have to be expanded. This interim report will be accessible at various locations* and can be requested free of charge (see back flap).
On behalf of the Supervisory Committee R.E.O. Ekkart *
These include Joods Maatschappelijk Werk, Amsterdam;
Centraal Meldpunt Joodse Oorlogsclaims, Amsterdam;
Stichting 40- 45, Amsterdam;
the Library of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam;
de Koninklijke Bibliotheek [Royal Library], The Hague;
het Algemeen Rijksarchief [General State Archives], The Hague;
het Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie [the Netherlands Institute for Art History], The Hague;
the Ministry of Finance, The Hague;
the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Zoetermeer.

Recommendations

These are the recommendations, formulated by the Ekkart Committee on the basis of the pilot study, as published in 'Origins unknown, Report on the pilot study into the provenance of works of art recovered from Germany and currently under the custodianship of the State of the Netherlands', April 1998, p.23. On the grounds of the investigation carried out and the results discussed above, the Committee has arrived at the following recommendations: 1. Given the fact that the inventory of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN) does not give a clear picture of the information available on the provenance of the works of art belonging to the Netherlands Art Property collection (NK collection), the Committee urges that the information on this subject, contained in the archive of the Netherlands Art Property Foundation (SNK) at the Ministry of Finance and collected between the years 1945 and 1952, be systematically compiled for all the Netherlands Art Property numbers still in the possession of the State and that this information be added to the inventory of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage. 2. The Committee recommends that the scope of research should be widened for all paintings and drawings and for those objects for which the information obtained from the Netherlands Art Property Foundation archives justifies further action. In order to supplement information already found, research should be widened to include other sources of information which pilot research suggests might be relevant, particularly the documentation files of the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD), including auction catalogues and other printed sources. Where evidence seems to indicate it might be worthwhile, sources elsewhere should also be consulted, such as various files at the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (RIOD) and housed in government archives, and the archives still available at art dealers and auction houses. 3. The Committee recommends that a summary is made of the works of art restored to their rightful owners by the Netherlands Art Property Foundation and its legal successors. 4. In relation to the research carried out by various committees with regard to legal restitution and related issues, the Committee recommends that attention also be paid to the legal framework and the working methods of the Netherlands Art Property Foundation. The activities of the Netherlands Art Property Foundation should be seen in the light of more general legislation with regard to legal restitution. Attention should be paid to such aspects as the formulation and application of concepts such as voluntary sale, forced sale, confiscation and looting and also to the way in which works of art were restored to their owners. In this respect, the Committee strongly recommends looking into the possibilities which existed for the restitution of works of art which changed hands due to force of circumstances but which were not shipped off to Germany. 5. It is essential that an active investigation takes place in all cases where new facts emerge from the recommended research which suggest that third parties have rights of ownership to works of art from the Netherlands Art Property collection or where additional information comes to light regarding earlier claims rejected on the basis of the information then available. Such active investigation should also include the tracing of possible rightful owners. Research of this kind should take place as soon as there are indications to this effect and should not wait until completion of the investigations recommended in the previous sections.

Research method Origins Unknown

For the research into the provenance of the NK collection of the Instituut Collectie Nederland (Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage) use has been made of the archives of the Stichting Nederlandsch Kunstbezit (SNK) [Netherlands Art Property Foundation], the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) [Netherlands Institute for Art History] and other archives. The archives, compiled by the SNK in the years 1945-1951, were made accessible with the aid of the inventory made by J. Hazemeijer (1990). To optimise the use of the inventory, a flow chart was made in order to standardise the research method. The flow chart shows which records are always reviewed in order to find the provenance data in the SNK-archives. In this description of the research method, we briefly discuss the sections of the flow chart for paintings. For furniture, ceramics and other objects, a flow chart adapted to each category is used in conjunction with the relevant archive records. Flow Chart ICN inventory card The inventory card of the Instituut Collectie Nederland (ICN) [Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage], with the photograph of the work of art, a description and abbreviated provenance data, is always used as the starting point. SNK declaration forms and white cards The most important documents from the SNK-archive are the declaration forms and the inventory cards (the so called white cards). Declaration forms are filed according to serial number, artist, owner, buyer and art objectcategory. The white cards are filed under the inventory numbers given by the SNK to the art objects. SNK inventory books The inventory books are also consulted. In these books the art objects are registered, as is the case on the white cards, under the inventory numbers of the SNK. These numbers are identical to the numbers named under provenance on the inventory cards of the ICN. SNK custody files If the owner or buyer of an object is known, the custody files are consulted. These files contain any correspondence between private individuals and the SNK concerning the art objects. The data from the custody files can lead to other documents contained in the SNK-archives such as the LiRo-list (SNK no. 715) or overviews of purchase and sale by Germans (SNK no.243-244) etc. Digital file with names It is very useful to record all names and art objects that appear on lists from different archives, such as the LiRo-list, in this file. With the help of this digital file, connections can be made that were not previously possible. The digital file thus offers an added value with respect to the work of the SNK. Netherlands Institute for Art History With the results of the initial research conducted into the archives of the SNK, all paintings and drawings) are checked in the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) for additional provenance data. The painting or the drawing is identified in the photographic documentation system for Dutch or Foreign art. In this system, with the aid of photographs, the provenances and attributions of paintings and drawings are kept up to date. These data are also partially present in digital form. Because the RKD has fulfilled this central information-provision and documentation role since 1932, considerable data from private individuals, auctions, art dealers and restorers are contained in the photographic documentation system. This documentation also contains references to oeuvre, auction, art dealership and exhibition catalogues or other sources that are present in the RKD. Portraits are also examined at the Iconografisch Bureau (IB) [Iconograpic Bureau]. With a provenance found in this way, research can be done on persons or collections in catalogues and in the press documentation.

MORE AT:
http://www.minocw.nl/cultuur.htm