Landscape of Italian Character
Everyone knows that during WWII a lot of looting happened, specifically of fine art pieces. A lot of that was done by the Nazis but some of it was done by the other side too. Today we’re going to talk about one of those cases and how that painting came home.
1920s - 1939
The painting in question today is titled Landscape of Italian Character by 18th century Austrian artist Johann Franz Neopmuk Lauterer. It’s painted on wood panel as part of a set of two paintings featuring similar motifs and together they portray a panoramic scene of shepherds and travellers with their goats, sheep, cows, and donkeys at a ford in a river.
Since the 1920s, this painting had been displayed at the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich. When war broke out in 1939, many of the paintings and other works of art were relocated to safer places for their protection. However, there is no record from that time that Landscape of Italian Character was relocated. In fact there are no records of the painting at all after the war broke out.
1965 - 1973
Finally, the Bavarian State Painting Collections got around to investigating this painting that used to be in their collection. In fairness I’m sure the years immediately following the war were chaotic and there was a lot of turmoil. But, once they got to it they realized that Landscape of Italian Character was missing and no one knew where it went, so they launched an investigation. According to a statement released by the museum, “it’s whereabouts remained unknown since the beginning of the war. The possibility existed that it had been looted” (Kuta, 2023).
2011
In the American art market in 2011, Landscape of Italian Character surfaced unexpectedly when the descendent of an American soldier tried to sell the painting to the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Unfortunately, the negotiations broke down and the painting slipped out of their hands. In 2012, the painting was listed with the German Lost Art Foundation.
2023
The museum, and the German art community, was starting to lose hope that they would ever see this painting again. Then, out of the blue, Art Recovery International, a company specializing in looted, stolen, and lost artwork recovery, received a tip from someone in Chicago claiming to have a painting that their uncle had brought back to the USA after serving in WWII. The caller suspected the painting was either stolen or looted.
Art Recovery International had nothing to go on other than pictures of the painting so they set about trying to identify the painting’s title, artist, and rightful owner. With the help of a German law firm they were able to trace the painting back to the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Great! Right? Not quite yet. Getting it safely back to Germany proved to be a challenge in itself.
The still anonymous tipster wanted a monetary reward for the return of the painting and Art Recovery International explained that it wasn’t their policy to pay for stolen art. This worried the team since the only other time the painting had surfaced, in 2011, was also from a person trying to sell it from Chicago and they were concerned that it would disappear again. However, the team was able to convince the tipster to an unconditional return of the work.
The FBI’s Art Crime team stepped in to oversee the handover of the piece and a representative of the Bavarian State Painting Collections flew to the German Consulate in Chicago for the repatriation ceremony.
Once the work is completely restored and safely back in Munich it will be reunited with its counterpart and the two will be displayed together, alongside some other Lauterer pieces.
One thing to note before we end off. Just because the person who looted this painting won the war and wasn’t a Nazi doesn’t make this an ok thing to do. Christopher Marinello, the founder of Art Recovery International, sums it up nicely, “on occasion we have come across cases such as this, where Allied soldiers may have taken objects home as souvenirs or as trophies of war. Being on the winning side doesn’t make it right. We expect everyone to do the right thing and return stolen artwork wherever it may be located” (Cascone, 2023).
Works Cited
Cascone, Sarah. “After 80 Years, A Long-Lost Painting Looted by US Soldiers During WWII Has Been Returned to Germany”. ArtNet. 2023. https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/lauterer-painting-returned-germany-2382029
Kuta, Sarah. “Painting Stolen by US Soldier During WWII Returned to Germany”. Smithsonian Magazine. 2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/painting-stolen-by-american-soldier-during-wwii-returned-to-germany-180983130/#:~:text=Painting%20Stolen%20by%20American%20Soldier%20During%20World%20War%20II%20Returned%20to%20Germany,-FBI%20agents%20and&text=With%20help%20from%20the%20FBI,artist%20Johann%20Franz%20Nepomuk%20Lauterer.
“300-Year-Old Painting Stolen During World War II Returned to German Museum”. Euro News. 2023. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/10/20/300-year-old-painting-stolen-during-world-war-ii-returned-to-german-museum