Resolutions of Claims for Nazi-Era Cultural Assets

The Registry of Resolution of Claims for Nazi-Era Cultural Assets provides information on the resolution of formal claims made to AAMD member museums regarding works of art believed to have been stolen by the Nazis between 1933-1945. The information in the registry has been provided by AAMD’s members in furtherance of the Report of the AAMD Task Force on the Spoliation of Art during the Nazi/World War II Era (1933-1945). The registry lists objects restituted and settlements made since June 4, 1998, the date the report was adopted.

The purpose of this registry is to:

  • provide information on claims made with respect to objects in AAMD member museum collections that have been resolved either by restitution or other resolution;
  • encourage openness regarding such works nationally and internationally; and
  • supplement information provided in the Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal, which was developed by the American Association of Museums (AAM) with the endorsement of AAMD.

For more information on works of art stolen during World War II, see AAMD’s Position Paper on "Art Museums and the Identification and Restitution of Works Stolen by the Nazis" and "Selected Issues for American Art Museums Regarding Holocaust Era Looted Art". For information on AAMD’s mission and members, please visit the main website at AAMD.org Questions regarding any object in the Registry of Resolution of Claims for Nazi-era Cultural Assets can be directed to the acquiring institution. This registry does not provide services for filing a claim. For information on this subject, see below.

 

Cover Image: Eglon van der Neer, Portrait of a Man and Woman in an Interior, 1665-1667. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

America’s art museums have long taken a leadership role in the restitution of art and other property looted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. American museums were active partners with the United States Army’s Monuments, Fine Art and Archives section, which, in the years following World War II, succeeded in returning hundreds of thousands of objects to the countries where they were located before being looted by the Nazis.

In 1997, AAMD convened a task force to draft guidelines on how its members should handle art looted by the Nazis and not previously restituted. The guidelines, published in June 1998, formed the basis of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art drafted by the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, the first comprehensive conference to address assets stolen by the Nazis. The AAMD also worked closely with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States to develop guidelines and mechanisms for the identification of works looted by the Nazis and the restitution of those works to the original owners or heirs.

Following an agreement between the AAMD, the AAM, and the Commission, the AAM created a website entitled the Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal (nepip), which serves as a publicly accessible resource for information on objects in U.S. museum collections that changed hands in Continental Europe from 1933 to 1945. Since the website was established September 8, 2003, more than 28,000 objects have been posted by 165 U.S. art museums. AAMD member museums also have posted information on their websites regarding works in their collections that changed hands during the Nazi regime. For more information about nepip, visit: http://www.nepip.org.

To pursue a possible claim for a work of art with Nazi-era provenance, visit The Art Loss Register, the largest private database of claims for missing art works. The ALR will take the details of WWII-related claims and then will search for the objects as part of their ongoing work. You can find them at http://www.artloss.com.

The Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York State Banking Department (HCPO) may also be able to help you in your search. The HCPO is an agency of the New York State Government that helps individuals of all nationalities and backgrounds obtain fair and just resolution for the theft of property in Europe during the WWII era. The HCPO charges no fee to pursue claims, nor is its service contingent upon a percentage of claimants’ restitution awards. You can reach them at http://www.claims.state.ny.us, phone 212-709-5583.

Finally, there are a number of websites in Europe which list missing objects taken from European nations or their citizens from the WWII era, or list found objects for which claimants have not been identified. These include: