France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

by Nicky80 Sat 08 Mar 2014, 19:57

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France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

France is to give back three paintings pillaged by the Nazis on Tuesday, the day before George Clooney's film The Monuments Men opens in French cinemas.

The conjunction of these two events is an opportunity to remind people that Culture Minister Aurélie Flipetti is very attached to this gesture of remembrance," France's culture ministry told the AFP news agency on Saturday.
The works are:

Mountain landscape by Flemish master Joos de Momper (1564-1635), which belonged to Baron Cassel van Doorn, a Belgian banker who had residences in France and whose property was confiscated in 1943 although he was not Jewish;
Portait of a woman, an 18th-century painting, possibly by Louis Tocqué, that belonged to Berlin Jewish art dealers Rosa and Jakob Oppenheimer;
Virgin with child after Lippo Memmi or an associate seized from banker Richard Soepkez in Cannes in 1944.

About 2,000 works whose owners have not been identified are being held in French museums.
Only about 70 have been handed over to descendants of the owners in the last 20 years.
The Monuments Men, whose cast includes Matt Damon, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and French actor Jean Dujardin, tells the story of a group charged with finding and saving artworks and other culturally important items during World War II.
It is based on a non-fiction book by Robert M. Edsel.

by it's me Sat 08 Mar 2014, 22:19

by amaretti Sun 09 Mar 2014, 02:12

Very cool . cheers

by LizzyNY Sun 09 Mar 2014, 02:22

Hopefully this is just the beginning.

by Mazy Sun 09 Mar 2014, 03:45

LizzyNY wrote:Hopefully this is just the beginning.

I think there will be many more pieces of Art returned because of MM bringing to the attention of all. This movie has done so much besides the movie itself. God Bless George & Grant for making it. xxx

by Sevens Sun 09 Mar 2014, 04:09

I don't think UK will return our pieces of art they stole in 19th century.

by Mazy Sun 09 Mar 2014, 05:01

Sevens wrote:I don't think UK will return our pieces of art they stole in 19th century.

Miracles happen everyday maybe with all the publicity they might eventually.

by Sevens Sun 09 Mar 2014, 05:13

Well said. They did return Hongkong.
Never mind, I was just kidding. We destroyed countless our own treasures during some tragical 10 years or so, you know. At least British kept them carefully.

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France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

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Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens

Re: France gives back Nazi-seized paintings as Clooney's Monuments Men hits French screens