BERLIN'S ALTE NATIONALGALERIE PRESENTS AN EXHIBITION OF RETURNED WORKS

A PAINTING OF THE FLORENCE SKYLINE THAT HUNG IN ADOLF HITLER'S BERLIN APARTMENT THROUGHOUT WORLD WAR II AND WAS MISSING FOR DECADES WENT ON DISPLAY RECENTLY IN AN EXHIBITION OF WORKS RETURNED TO THE COLLECTION OF A MAJOR GERMAN MUSEUM. THE EXHIBITION CENTERS ON 18 WORKS RETURNED TO THE ALTE NATIONALGALERIE OVER THE PAST DECADE, MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY SINCE THEY WERE REMOVED FROM ITS PREMISES. IT ALSO USES OFFICIAL AND LOAN LISTS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS TO SHOW HOW THE PIECES WERE TAKEN DOWN FROM THE MUSEUM WALLS TO WIND UP ON ODYSSEYS THROUGH FLAK TOWERS, SALT MINES AND WATER-SOAKED CELLARS. MANY OF THE WORKS FOUND THEIR WAY INTO PRIVATE HANDS, BUT MUSEUM OFFICIALS SAY A RECENT INTERNATIONAL PUSH FOR RESTITUTION HAS RESULTED IN AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF WORKS RETURNING TO THE MUSEUM IN THE PAST 10 YEARS. AT THE END OF THE WORLD WAR II IN 1945, SOME 800 WORKS THAT HAD BEEN IN THE COLLECTION OF THE ALTE NATIONALGALERIE WERE MISSING. ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THEM WERE RECOVERED BY THE END OF THE 1950s. SINCE 1990, MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OTHERS HAVE BEEN RETURNED, INCLUDING THOSE IN THE EXHIBITION. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS, INCLUDING GERMANY'S, AND BERLIN'S, REUNIFICATION AND USE OF THE INTERNET TO CIRCULATE DATABASES, HOWEVER, HAVE MADE IT EASIER TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT MISSING ARTWORKS, LEADING TO A JUMP IN THE NUMBER OF RETURNS SINCE 2000, BERLIN MUSEUM DIRECTOR MICHAEL EISSENHAUER SAID. 'A VIEW OF FLORENCE', BY 19th CENTURY PAINTER WILHELM AHLBORNS, WAS ONE OF 68 WORKS LOANED BY THE GALLERY TO THE NAZI REGIME AND HUNG IN HITLER'S PRIVATE QUARTERS AT HIS CHANCELLERY. EARLIER THIS YEAR, IT TURNED UP IN A BERLIN ART GALLERY, WHICH IN TURN ALERTED THE MUSEUM. ONCE THE GALLERY PROVES OWNERSHIP, USING PRE-WAR DOCUMENTATION OR MARKINGS ON THE PAINTINGS THEMSELVES, IT HAS BEEN ABLE TO NEGOTIATE A 'FINDER'S FEE' FOR THE CURRENT OWNERS, WORTH ROUGHLY 10% OF THE ARTWORK'S MARKET VALUE. ANOTHER WORK IN THE EXHIBIT, WHICH OPENED TO THE PUBLIC FRIDAY AND RUNS THROUGH 6.MARCH.2011, WAS REACQUIRED BY THE MUSEUM IN OCTOBER. IN 1942, 'DOG WITH GRAY HORSE' BY ENGLISH PAINTER WILLIAM COLE, HAD BEEN HUNG BY NAZI OFFICIALS IN A BERLIN VILLA THAT WAS TO HOUSE THE THEN EXILED IRAQI PRIME MINISTER. AT THE WAR'S END, HE MOVED SOUTH TO A VILLAGE OUTSIDE DRESDEN AND THE PAINTING WAS GIVEN TO THE HOUSEKEEPER AS PAYMENT. A DESCENDANT OF THE HOUSEKEEPER IDENTIFIED IT THROUGH A DATABASE OF LOST ARTWORK AND CONTACTED THE MUSEUM, REFLECTING WHAT EISSENHAUER CALLED A GENERATION CHANGE THAT IS BENEFITING THE MUSEUM. 'MANY PAINTINGS ARE CHANGING HANDS AND THE YOUNGER GENERATION IS STARTING TO ASK WHERE THEY CAME FROM', EISSENHAUR SAID. 'WE ARE HOPING THAT THE CURVE WILL CONTINUE TO GO UP.'