Books & Publications:

Title

Report of the UK's Spoliation Advisory Panel in Respect of three Rubens paintings now in the possession of the Courtauld Institute of Art, London

Author

Spoliation Advisory Panel

Date

November 2007

Description

On 28 November 2007 the UK's Spoliation Advisory Panel published its ruling that the owner of three paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, now at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, did not lose possession of the works because of the actions of the Nazis

The Panel's Report concluded that Franz Koenigs, a Dutch businessman and art collector, lost possession of three paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, now in the possession of the Courtauld Institute of Art, because of business/economic reasons and not because of the actions of the Nazis.

The paintings in question are:

St. Gregory the Great with Ss. Maurus and Papianus and St. Domitilla with Ss. Nereus and Achilleus, 1606 – 1607;

The Conversion of St. Paul, c.1610 – 1612;

The Bounty of James I Triumphing Over Avarice, c.1632 – 1633.

Franz Koenigs gave the paintings to the Lisser and Rosenkranz Bank in 1935 as collateral for a loan.  In 1940, the mainly Jewish-owned Bank, went into liquidation because of the impending German invasion of the Netherlands. It called in the loan against the paintings and Franz Koenigs chose not to discharge it. The Bank then sold the paintings as it was entitled to do under the loan agreement.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced that the Panel’s ruling had been endorsed by the Government, and welcomed by the Courtauld Institute.

The Panel's report is available here and on the DCMS website.