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Another lost WW2 painting returned to Poland
The National Museum in Warsaw has welcomed back its painting “Portrait of an Older Man in a Wig with a Cane” by Godfried Schalcken, Piotr Gliński, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, announced on Tuesday.
A presentation and transfer ceremony took place at the National Museum in Warsaw, where it officially received the recovered artwork.
“This painting was stolen by the Germans, most likely after the Warsaw Uprising, and was found at an auction in Germany last November. The Department for the Restitution of Cultural Property of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage identified this painting as our Polish wartime loss,” said Gliński.
“In negotiations with the owner, the painting was returned to Poland free of charge. Today, it has arrived at the National Museum in Warsaw, its home,” he added.
He emphasized that there are “thousands of empty frames in Polish museums. As a result of World War II, we lost over half a million movable works of art,” stated the Minister of Culture during the ceremony.
Ministry’s steadfast persistence
Minister Gliński recalled the “Empty Frames” initiative undertaken by the Ministry, which on one hand showcases “the terrible loss and gap that Poland experienced during World War II, both from the Germans and the Russians.” On the other hand, it highlights the restitution efforts since wartime losses continue to return to Poland.
He pointed out that in Germany, there is a legal provision that allows objects to be considered someone’s property after 30 years, even if they were stolen. He noted that the Polish government has not received systemic support from the German state in this matter, and additionally, the German side has not initiated a joint appeal by both parties to German society and institutions for the return of artworks.
“Regardless of how it looks and doesn’t look favorable in Germany, it’s even worse in Russia, where we have about 20 restitution requests submitted, and there has been no response. We continue our restitution efforts. We have initiated 150 restitution processes in 15 countries around the world,” the minister said.
During the ceremony, it was announced that along with Schalcken’s painting, another recovered art piece, an 18th-century painting titled “View of the Sea” from the Claude-Joseph Vernet school, retrieved from an auction in Monte Carlo, has returned to Poland. This work will be handed over to the National Museum in Lublin, eastern Poland.
History of the painting
The painting “Portrait of an Older Man in a Wig with a Cane,” created around 1680-1685, depicts a well-dressed older man against the backdrop of a park. Schalcken created many portraits in a similar format.
Godfried Schalcken’s painting was lost from Polish collections during the German occupation in World War II, most likely after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
Before the war, it belonged to a collection purchased at an auction in Cologne in 1862 by the Museum of Fine Arts in Warsaw, the predecessor of the National Museum. The artwork received inventory number 30, which is still visible on the back of the painting today.
The fate of this artwork remained unknown for a long time until November 1972 when it appeared for sale at the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna. This was a turning point in its history, although it still remained lost to Poland.
In 2022, “Portrait of an Older Man in a Wig with a Cane” was rediscovered at an auction in Germany. In response to the efforts of the Polish Ministry of Culture and the submission of a restitution request with detailed documentation of the painting’s origin from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, the painting was withdrawn from the planned sale. In June 2023, the previous owner voluntarily decided to return the artwork to the Polish State Treasury and donate it to the National Museum in Warsaw.