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| Status: The object is looted. Its current location is unknown. | |
Provenance | |
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| Additional Information | |
| “The collection of Baron Mór Lipót Herzog was for the most part inherited by his three children: Mme Alfonz Weiss (née Erzsébet Herzog), András Herzog and István Herzog. A few objects were left to his sister, Mme Sándor Sváb (née Irén Herzog). Part of the collection (which contained about 1500-2500 important pieces in addition to valuable furniture; including books) was sequestrated in 1944. It was then transported to Germany, from where most items were later returned and given back to the owners. However, another part of the collection was never seen again. According to indications, some items were deposited, under different names, with a bank (or banks) subsequently emptied by Soviet troops. According to File No. 17.507/1946 at the Budapest Court of Wards, the Herzog family had a strongroom compartment at the Hungarian Discount and Exchange Bank. It is not yet established who the depositing person was and what the compartment contained. The involvement of the Budapest Court of Guardians in the matter suggests that András Herzog may have been the depositor, since during the period in question (1939-49) his heirs were all under age. Advocate Dr. Emil Oppler (Budapest, V. Széchenyi u. 14.), who rendered important services to the Herzogs, undertook legal representation of members of the family. He worked with Associate Judge Szomolányi, of the Court of Wards, whose widow, as late as 1981, owned a work by Madarász (“The Mourning of László Hunyadi”, a sketch) given to Szomolányi by the Herzog family. Part of the Herzog collection had been placed by the owners in the reputedly bomb-proof cellars of the Labor Company at Budafok, outside Budapest. The hidden works were found by the State Security Service, then under the control of the notorious Péter Hain, an Arrow-Cross man. In defiance of Hungarian laws at the time, the State Security Service did not report the finding, but took it to the Hotel Majestic, the headquarters of the Eichmann Sonderkommando.The material which remained was handed over to the Museum of Fine Arts for safekeeping. The paintings and sculptures were taken away from the Herzog palace on Andrássy út in 1944. The carpets and some of the furniture were stolen from the second floor of the building by Arrow-Cross men. However, the furniture on the first floor remained in situ. Some of it was destroyed or damaged beyond repair by a bomb, but some survived undamaged and remained where it was. (A list of the objects destroyed is extant.) According to contemporary reports, these surviving objects were carried away by Soviet soldiers, in January and February 1945. Taking into account the size of the items of furniture, theft by individuals can be ruled out. Organized removal must be supposed.” See Sacco di Budapest, p 305. If you can provide any information about this object, please contact the address below. | |
| Reference Material | |
| (1) Baldass, L. “Herzog báró gyûjteménye” (Baron Herzog’s Collection). In: Magyar Mûvészet, III, 1927. 203 Francia mûveszéti alkotások kiállítáds Magyar magántulajdonból (Exhibition of French Art Works in Private Hands). Organized by E. Petrovics; text by E. Petrovics and Count Gyula Batthyány; introduced by Francois Gachot. The Countess Éva Almásy-Teleki Institute of Art, Budapest.* Hungarian National Archives, K 643-1944 Hungarian National Archives, XIX-J-12-364/1947 Hungarian National Archives, XIX-J-12-833/1947 Hungarian National Archives, XIX-I-13, 79/1949 | |
| Exhibitions | |
| HA, 1919. Rm. 6 No 19 *The Countess Éva Almásy-Teleki Institute of Art, Budapest, 1940 | |
| Source of Information | |
| Mravik, László, The “Sacco di Budapest” and the Depredation of Hungary, 1938-1949 (Works of art missing from Hungary as a result of the Second World War), Hungarian National Gallery publications, Budapest 1998. Contact Agnes Peresztegi Soffer Avocats 4, rue Quentin Bauchart 75008 Paris France Email: agnes@peresztegi.com | |
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