Paul Pétridès, Red Flag Name, in prestigious American museums in 2026

 The OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit had this to say about Paul Pétridès:

Petrides, O. Paris, 6 ave Delcasse/153 rue la Boetie. Born in Cyprus. British subject, naturalised French. One of the most active collaborationist dealers. Worked with Adrion, through whom he sold Renoir bronzes and a Rembrandt to Boehmer, and Rosner and Rochlitz, from whom he acquired paintings looted by the ERR from the Paul Rosenberg collection, and which he later sold to Zervos. In touch with Borchers, Schoeller and Cailleux. Reported to have assets concealed under the name of Mme Kruger (sister-in-law, 53 ave Foch) and Mlle Bosc, also a sister-in-law (17 rue Jean Mermoz). Indicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier).

The ALIU also linked Pétridès to other Red Flag Names:

Rosner, Isador (or Ignacy). Paris, 230 (?) blvd Raspail. Dealer. Received loot from Rochlitz and Petrides. Fled to Provence. Indicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier).

Boehmer, Bernhard. Guestrow, Mecklenberg, Haus Beidberg. Former assistant to the sculptor Barlach, turned dealer. Active as buyer for Goebbels in Holland and Paris. Client of Petrides and Adrion. Connected with Wendland and Fischer as intermediary in sale of Degas’ Madame Camus at the Piano.

Champagne, Jean Marc. Paris, blvd Raspail. Art critic reported to have collaborated with the German Propaganda Section in Paris. Reported associated with Petrides.

Adrion, Philippe. Paris, 9 rue Bochart de Savon Villier sur Marne, 41 rue Dr Filloux. Dealer reported to have worked in the German Propaganda Office, Paris. Connected with Gurlitt, Rochlitz, Hoffmann and Petrides. Indicted by French Government (Seine Tribunal, Judge Frapier).Wendland, Dr Hans. Versoix/Geneva. German national. Art dealer, resident alternately in France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany since World War I. Partner of Reber until about 1930. Probably the most important individual engaged in quasi-official looted art transactions in France, Germany and Switzerland in World War II. Acted as intermediary between Hofer and Fischer, and as Fischer’s chief purchasing agent. Frequently in Paris during the occupation; close contact of Lohse, Rochlitz, Loebl, Petrides, Mandl, Wuester, etc. Has never sold works of art directly to private purchasers; always working as dealers’ expert and agent. His activities presently under close scrutiny by the Swiss government. On Allied Expulsion List and Proclaimed List.

Kruger, Mme. Paris, 53 ave Foch. Sister-in-law of Petrides. Reported to have hidden pictures he obtained from the Germans.

Bosc, Mlle. Paris, 17 rue Jean Mermoz. Sister-in-law of Petrides. Reported to have held pictures from Jewish collections sequestered by the Germans.

When an artwork with possible Nazi era provenance gap pops up in a prestigious American museum with a mention of "Pétridès", one might think that efforts would be made to clarify the provenance.

Artwork	Artist	AccNum	Provenance	Museum
Woman at Her Toilette	Édouard Vuillard	1970.17.91	Vuillard atelier; (Paul Pétridés, Paris), c. 1947.[1] Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, France, by 1952; sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[2] bequest 1970 to NGA. [1]See letter dated 22 September 1999 from Guy Gogeval, in NGA curatorial records. [2]According to the Ailsa Mellon Bruce notebook now in NGA archives, copy NGA curatorial records. Associated Names Galerie Paul Pétridès Atelier Vuillard Molyneux, Edward H., Captain Bruce, Ailsa Mellon, Mrs.	National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Mountains at Collioure	André Derain	1982.76.4	Possibly purchased from the artist by (Ambroise Vollard [1866-1939], Paris), until at least 1935.[1] (Paul Pétridès, Paris); acquired June 1951 on joint account by (M. Knoedler & Co., New York) and (Sidney Janis Gallery, New York); full ownership acquired October 1951 by (Sidney Janis Gallery, New York);[2] sold 1951 to John Hay Whitney [1904-1982], Manhasset, New York; deeded 1982 to the John Hay Whitney Charitable Trust, New York; gift 1982 to NGA. [1] Letter of 17 April 1985 from Michel Kellerman, in NGA curatorial files. Two labels on the stretcher of the painting include Vollard's name, and appear to indicate he lent to the painting to exhibitions in 1935 (recorded in NGA conservation report, in NGA curatorial files). [2] Although a letter of 9 July 1984 from Sidney Janis Gallery, now in NGA curatorial files, states that they acquired the painting from Knoedler in 1950, a letter of 9 January 1985 from Nancy Little, librarian at M. Knoedler & Co., also in NGA curatorial files, gives the more precise dates. The Knoedler number to which Ms. Little refers, A4642, is recorded in blue pencil on the stretcher of the painting. Ms. Little also confirms Pétridès as Knoedler's source. A letter of 5 March 1985 from the Galerie Pétridès, in NGA curatorial files, indicates that they have no additional information about the picture.	National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
The Houses in the Snow, Norway	Claude Monet	39.2017	(Hôtel Drouot), Paris, by 1924; purchase, (Bernheim-Jeune), Paris, April 3, 1924, stock no. 23869; purchase, Henri Canonne [1867–1961], Paris, December 31, 1927 until at least 1940. Probably, sale, (Paul Pétridès [1901-1993]), Paris, April 18, 1942 to (Galerie Raphaël Gérard), Paris, stock no. 8783; purchase, Armand Amanté (Galerie de l'Art Moderne), Paris, May 18, 1942 [1] . Possibly (Dr. Fritz Nathan [1895–1972]), Zurich, after 1942 until 1957 [2]. (Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries), New York, by 1962. (Schoneman Galleries, Inc.), New York, by 1966; purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Zighelboim, Caracas, Venezuela, by 1975; sale, (Sotheby’s), New York, November 2, 2005, no. 57; collection of Frederic C. Hamilton [1927–2016], Denver; by bequest, Denver Art Museum, 2014. [1] Galerie Raphaël Gérard stock book entries for no. 8783 reflect "Monet" and "neige" with purchase from Pétridès and sale to Amanté. [2] Dr. Fritz Nathan appears in annotated provenance notes from the Wildenstein Plattner (Paris) archives.	Denver Art Museum
The Guitar Player	Georges Braque	AM 1981-540	La peinture, volée avec la collection Kann, se retrouve en 1940 au Jeu de paume, centre de triage des oeuvres pillées. En 1941, elle passe dans les mains du marchand allemand Gustav Rochlitz, qui collabore avec les services allemands. Elle sera ensuite acquise par le marchand parisien Paul Petrides, le galeriste suisse Marcel Fleischmann, le collectionneur André Lefèvre et le galeriste parisien Heinz Berggruen. Ce dernier prête l'oeuvre au Mnam en 1976, et la lui revend en 1981 9 millions de francs - Libération https://www.liberation.fr/culture/1998/01/27/un-braque-reclame-a-beaubourg-alphonse-kann_226169/	Musée National d'Art Moderne
Nude on a Sofa	Henri Matisse	M.1998.2.P	Gaston Bernheim de Villers (d. 1953), Paris, 1931-1953? ?Mme Gaston Bernheim de Villers (Suzanne Adler, d. 1961); Galerie Methey, Paris, by 1969; [Paul Pétridès, Paris, sold 17 July 1969, as Nu sur canapé, 1925, to]; The Norton Simon Foundation; acc. no. F.1969.22.P, sold 1998 to; Norton Simon Art Foundation.	Norton Simon Museum
Still Life with Coffee Pot	Roger de La Fresnaye	1951.380	Pierre Faure, Paris (?);Dealer: Paul Pétridès, Paris;1951 Dealer: Alex Reid & Lefevre;1951 Toledo Museum of Art - Provenance archived in 2012 from the Toledos museum public Provenance Research project https://web.archive.org/web/20121224083005if_/http://www.toledomuseum.org:80/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Provenance-Research-lowres.pdf	Toledo Museum of Art
Landscape in the South (Le Cannet)	Pierre Bonnard	1975.1.158	Purchased from the artist by the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris; Galerie Pétridès, Paris; Sam Salz, New York; acquired from Sam Salz, New York, by Robert Lehman, New York, 1952.	Metropolitan Museum of Art
Le rideau jaune	Henri Matisse	355.1997	Alphonse Kann (1870–1948), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, by 1931 [1]; confiscated during the Nazi occupation by the ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), October 1940 [2]; traded by the ERR to Gustav Rochlitz in exchange for an Old Master painting acquired for the Hermann Goering collection, February 9, 1942 [3]; sold to Paul Petrides, Paris [4]. Returned with the help of Henri Matisse to Alphonse Kann, London, 1946 [5]; by inheritance to his friend Michael Stewart (1918-1983), London, 1948 [6]; sold through Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., London, 1951. Fernand C. Graindorge (1903-1985), Liège, 1951 [7]; to Marcel Mabille, Brussels, by 1956 [8]; sold to Stephen Hahn (1921-2011), New York, by 1981 [9]; sold through Acquavella Galleries to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1997 (Gift of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Nelson Rockefeller Bequest, gift of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Weintraub, and Mary Sisler Bequest [all by exchange]). [1] Lender to the exhibition Henri-Matisse, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, June 1- July 25, 1931, no. 28( (Le Rideau jaune). [2] The painting was stored at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. ERR inventory card KA 1061: Komposition in Blau und Gelb.  [3] One from a group of seven paintings (one by Leger, two by Braque, two by Matisse, one by Picasso, and one by de Chirico) exchanged by the ERR for one painting by the "School of the Master of Frankfurt." See OSS DIR #4 Gustav Rochlitz, ERR #13, pp. 7-8, no. 16 (View Through a Window), RG260 NARA M1946. OSS CIR# 1, exchange #13, no. 5, RG260 NARA M1946. See also contract between the ERR (Kurt von Behr) and Gustav Rochlitz, February 9, 1942, no. 5 (OSS CIR #2, NARA RG260 M1946). [4] See OSS DIR #4 Gustav Rochlitz, ERR #13, pp. 7-8, RG260 NARA M1946.  [5] See letter Henri Matisse, Nice to Fernand Graindorge, Liège, October 24, 1951 (Matisse Archives, Paris). The painting was included in the exhibition Paintings by Picasso and Matisse, organized by the Association française d'action artistique and the British Council at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, December 1945 (no. 23: Fenêtre sur le jardin. 1919 [sic]/Window overlooking the garden). The exhibition catalogue lists the painting among loans from the Musée national d'art moderne. See also Madeleine Korn, "New Research on a Collector: Alphonse Kann and Michael Stewart," Nancy Yeide at al., Vitalizing Memory: International Perspectives on Provenance Research, Washington: American Association of Museums, 2005, pp. 110-111. [6] Date of consignment: December 12, 1950 (Arthur Tooth & Sons stock inventories and accounts, 1871-1959, Series II, Box 21, ledger no. 8104, Getty Archives, Los Angeles). [7] See letter Henri Matisse, Nice to Fernand Graindorge, Liège, October 24, 1951 ( Matisse Archives, Paris). On loan from Graindorge to the exhibitions Matisse, Grande sale des expositions de La Réserve, Knokke-le-Zoute, July 12-August 31, 1952, no. 18 (Le rideau chamois); Chefs-d'oeuvre de l'art ancien dans les musées et collections belges, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, May 29-June 24, 1953; and Collection Fernand Graindorge, Kunsthalle Basel, August 28-October 3, 1954.  [8] Per Dominique Fourcade, ed., Henri Matisse 1904-1917, exh. cat. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1993, no. 124. Lender to the exhibition Henri Matisse, Musée national d'art moderne, Paris, July 27-November 18, 1956, no. 37 (La fenêtre). [9] Collection files 355.1997, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Per Fourcade 1993, Hahn acquired the painting in "1979 or 1980." https://web.archive.org/web/20260621042831/https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79523	Museum of Modern Art
The Checkered Tablecloth	Pierre Bonnard	1988.141.4	With Galerie Pétridès, Paris, by June 1943 [Paris 1943]. Jacques Lindon, New York, by Aug. 1948 [this and the following according to Block collection card, in curatorial file]; sold to Mr. and Mrs. Leigh B. Block, Chicago, Aug. 1948; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 1988.	Art Institute of Chicago
Study of Trees	Paul Cézanne	1998.305	[Ambroise Vollard, Paris.] Estate of Ambroise Vollard. [Paul Pétridès, Paris, 1947], sold; to James Lord, Paris, 1947. [Buchholz Gallery, New York, 1947], sold; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret, Connecticut, 1947, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 1998	Harvard Art Museums
Mountains at Collioure	André Derain	1982.76.4	Possibly purchased from the artist by (Ambroise Vollard [1866-1939], Paris), until at least 1935.[1] (Paul Pétridès, Paris); acquired June 1951 on joint account by (M. Knoedler & Co., New York) and (Sidney Janis Gallery, New York); full ownership acquired October 1951 by (Sidney Janis Gallery, New York);[2] sold 1951 to John Hay Whitney [1904-1982], Manhasset, New York; deeded 1982 to the John Hay Whitney Charitable Trust, New York; gift 1982 to NGA. [1] Letter of 17 April 1985 from Michel Kellerman, in NGA curatorial files. Two labels on the stretcher of the painting include Vollard's name, and appear to indicate he lent to the painting to exhibitions in 1935 (recorded in NGA conservation report, in NGA curatorial files). [2] Although a letter of 9 July 1984 from Sidney Janis Gallery, now in NGA curatorial files, states that they acquired the painting from Knoedler in 1950, a letter of 9 January 1985 from Nancy Little, librarian at M. Knoedler & Co., also in NGA curatorial files, gives the more precise dates. The Knoedler number to which Ms. Little refers, A4642, is recorded in blue pencil on the stretcher of the painting. Ms. Little also confirms Pétridès as Knoedler's source. A letter of 5 March 1985 from the Galerie Pétridès, in NGA curatorial files, indicates that they have no additional information about the picture.	National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
The Blue Blouse	Henri Matisse	G 87.001	Provenienz 1936 Henri Matisse (*31.12.1869, Le-Cateau-Cambrésis, † 03.11.1954, Nizza)[Künstler][1, 2, 3, 5] 1936 – o.D. Paul Rosenberg (*29.12.1881, Paris, † 29.06.1959, Neuilly-sur-Seine)[Kunsthändler][1, 2, 5] spätestens 1937 – o.D. Albert Bellanger (o.A.)[Sammler][1, 2, 4, 5] frühstens 1938 – spätestens 1956 Galerie Paul Pétridès / Paul Pétridès (*1901,o.A, † 1993, o.A)[Kunsthandel][1, 2, 5] spätestens 1956 – 1973 Harry Bakwin (*19.11.1894,?, † 25.12.1973, New York )[Sammler][1, 2] 1972 [?] – 1985 Ruth Morris Bakwin (*1898, Chicago, † 31.07.1985, Kodiak, AK)[Sammlerin][Erbgang][1, 2, 5] 1984 – 1986 Galerie Beyeler, Basel [Kauf][Kunsthandel][3] seit 1986 Kunstmuseum Bern [Kauf][3]	Kunstmuseum Bern
Landscape, Pierrefitte	Maurice Utrillo	1970.17.87	(Paul Pétridès, Paris);[1] sold to Captain Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, by 1952; sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York, as Landscape with Houses;[2] bequest 1970 to NGA. [1] Letter of 6 December 1977 from Paul Pétridès, in NGA curatorial files. [2] Purchase date of Molyneux collection according to the Ailsa Mellon Bruce notebook now in NGA archives. Associated Names Galerie Paul Pétridès Molyneux, Edward H., Captain Bruce, Ailsa Mellon, Mrs.	National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Before Dinner	Pierre Bonnard	1975.1.156	Purchased from the artist by the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1924; acquired from the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, by Mlle Ricotti; [Galerie O. Pétridès, Paris at the earliest 1934/5]; acquired from Galerie O. Pétridès, Paris, by Robert Lehman, New York, June 1948.	Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Dessert	Pierre Bonnard	1949.18	By 1924 Henri Kapferer [1870-1956] and Marcel Kapferer [1872-1966], Paris 1 By 1943 (Galerie O. Pétridès, Paris 2 Until 1949 (Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1949- The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Provenance Footnotes 1 The Kapferer brothers are listed as the lenders/owners of Bonnard’s Le Dessert, no. 108 in the Première exposition au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg. The Bonnard catalogue raisonné incorrectly lists this exhibition as taking place in 1932. 2 While there have been some suggestions that the Bonnard was with Galerie Pétridès in 1932, there does not appear to be any confirming documentation; however, the painting does appear in a 1943 Bonnard exhibition at the gallery (no. 15, Après le déjeuner).	Cleveland Museum of Art
Study of Trees	Paul Cézanne	1998.305	[Ambroise Vollard, Paris.] Estate of Ambroise Vollard. [Paul Pétridès, Paris, 1947], sold; to James Lord, Paris, 1947. [Buchholz Gallery, New York, 1947], sold; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret, Connecticut, 1947, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 1998	Fogg Museum
Landscape	André Derain	1951.379	"The provenance was archived in 2012 from the Toledo museum public Provenance Research project ""Ambrose Vollard, Paris Private collection: Mutzenbecher - Weimar, Germany 1951 Dealer: Galerie Paul Petrides, France. 1951 1951 Dealer: Alex Reid & Lefevre, London 1951 Toledo Museum of Art"" https://web.archive.org/web/20121224083005if_/http://www.toledomuseum.org:80/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Provenance-Research-lowres.pdf"	Toledo Museum of Art
Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire	Maurice de Vlaminck	AC1992.285.1	The artist (1876-1958). [Paul Pétrides, Paris]. Mr. (1886–1954) and Mrs. (1890–1963) Crawford A. Black, New York by 1966. [Perls Galleries, New York]; sold in 1968 to Mr. and Mrs. James J. Shapiro (1910-1995), New York; [sold in 1978 through John and Paul Herring, New York]; to Nathan (1909-1991) and Marion Smooke (1916-2001), Los Angeles; given in 1992 to LACMA.	Los Angeles County Museum of Art