"Femme Assise" or "Seated Woman/Woman Sitting in an Armchair," an artwork by Henri Matisse that was looted by the Nazi and became part of German collector Cornelius Gurlitt's long-hidden trove, has been handed on Friday to the heir of renowned Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg, who escaped the Nazis for France in 1940.
The 1921 famous painting was discovered in a Munich apartment back in 2012 and was included in the trove of more than 1,500 pieces retrieved by German customs officials. It is one of only two works to be cleared by a Munich court for release to its rightful owners, which was kept hidden inside the house of Gurlitt, who passed away in May 2014.
The modern art painting, which has been missing for nearly 75 years, was picked up earlier this week from a storage facility in Munich by Christopher Marinello, chief executive officer of London-based Art Recovery Group on behalf of Rosenberg's heirs.
The heirs of Rosenberg have been coordinating with Marinello since the discovery of Gurlitt's collection but the case took its time and has been a struggle for the family. It was very fortunate that Rosenberg preserved a very comprehensive archive of his art collection and that the family had extensive documentation regarding the missing artworks, which helped speed up their case.
Marinello said that when "Femme Assise" was discovered in Gurlitt's residence, those records assisted him and acted as evidence that the painting was indeed owned by Rosenberg. Picasso and Matisse were among the art collector's many painter associates. Rosenberg spent years trying to reclaim his almost 400 artworks that had been taken illegally from him by the Nazis. He passed away in 1959.
Rosenberg's granddaughter Anne Sinclair, author of My Grandfather's Gallery, stated the arrival of "Woman Sitting in an Armchair" is an emotional homecoming.
"First I feel deeply moved, of course, by the idea that this painting is back in the family 74 years after being looted, and deeply melancholic thinking that my grandfather is not able to see that," Sinclair said.
The Rosenberg family released a press statement thanking government officials and the Gurlitt family "for their cooperation and for their recognition of this historic claim."
Marinello added that before the 2012 discovery, the Rosenberg family had not been certain if the painting had been destroyed since its theft in the 1940s.
Sinclair said about 60 artworks from her grandfather's collection continue to be unaccounted for. She and her cousins are still wondering if they are in somebody's apartment or were simply lost during World War II.
