Oct 14, 2025

Austrian Advisory Board Decisions

The Austrian Art Restitution Advisory Board adopts decisions on the basis of dossiers presented by the Commission for Provenance Research. Below is a list of persecuted collectors as well as the urls to the reports.

How AI summarizes the work of the Germany Advisory Commission

 The following table, created with the AI document analysis tool NotebookLLM, details the claimants, their persecuted ancestors, the artworks subject to the claim, and the recommendation made by Germany's Advisory Commission, which will shut down in November 2025. (Highlights in yellow added by OAD)

It was created by loading the Commission Reports into NotebookLLM and asking the question: list claimants, their persecuted ancestors, the artworks claimed and the decision of the commission

How accurate is NotebookLLM's summary?

ClaimantsPersecuted Ancestor(s)Artworks ClaimedDecision of the Commission
Heirs of A. B.(Community of Heirs, represented by Dr. D. B.)A. B. (d. 1938) and his four children (C., D., E., and F.)Painting Das Zitronenscheibchen(Lemon Slice) (c. 1667) by Jacob OchterveltRecommend the restitution of the painting. This was based exclusively on moral and ethical considerations, not legal assessment. The restitution included the stipulation that if the painting is sold within 10 years, the state of Bavaria is to receive 50% of the proceeds.
Heirs of Laura Baumann (Karl Ernst Baumann, grandson)Laura Baumann (d. 1940)Painting Portrait der Familie von Dithfurth by Johann J. August von der EmbdeRecommend that the painting remain in the museum, and the claimant be paid €10,000 compensation.
Heirs of George E. Behrens(Community of heirs)George Eduard Behrens (1881–1956)Painting Pariser Wochentag (Weekday in Paris) (1869) by Adolph von MenzelCannot recommend returning the painting.

Sep 22, 2025

Knoedler Commission Book 6 Index

Provenance researchers looking for Knoedler codes CA 7173 to CA 9237, below is an AI-assisted transcription of the index of names and pages numbers in Knoedler Commission Book 6. The purpose is to facilitate provenance research. The Getty Provenance Index does not include transcriptions of these records which have been published as downloadable images by the J. Paul Getty Trust. Transcriptions may contain errors.


Title Commission book 6: CA7173-CA9237, 

1965 April-1973 February 

Author/Creator M. Knoedler & Co. 

Creation Date 1965 April-1973 February

Source
GRI Digital Collections

Permalink

Copyright J. Paul Getty Trust
 


Knoedler Commission Book 6, transcription of Index by OAD with AI-Assistance

Commission book 6: CA7173-CA9237

https://rosettaapp.getty.edu/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1066794


(file: gri_2012_m_54_b99.pdf)


Each name is followed by the ledger page numbers where this name is mentioned in the Knoedler commission book 6



page 5 of 227



Adler + Hirsche 8-9-17-28-61-66-67-70-112

Armstrong Williams 15.

Aiken, D. S. 22

Astor, Mrs V 24, 104, 107

Ault, Mr Lee 32-78

Anneberg, Mrs Per 32

Allen, Mrs. NathanB. 42

Arnstein, Benjamin S. 42

Anstalt fur Alte und Moderne Kunst 47

(crossed out Agger, Thos. 47)

Arnet, Mr Lester 48

Armour, Mrs G.L. 57

Allison, H.V. & Co. 59-69

Adler, Siegfried 61-98

Arbus, Leon A. 61

Arthritis Foundation 71

Atkinson, Guy 72

American Master Gallery 92-121

Auchincloss, B.C. 96

Art Gallery of Ontario 103

Atelier J. de la Boune 113

Anglim, Paul Asso. 115, 135

Avery, Mrs Sally 120

Addison Gallery (Warren Addison) 121, 122, 129, 134

Alpha Gallery 124

Arnold, Jonas 130

Sep 6, 2025

EVENT: Provenance and Restitution with Shared Knowledge Graphs September 15

 *** The video is now up and can be watched on Youtube and on the site of the German Lost Art Foundation!!

On September 15, the German Lost Art Foundation has graciously invited me to give a talk on Provenance and Restitution in their series "Kolloquium Provenienzforschung".

https://kulturgutverluste.de/termine/kolloquium-provenienzforschung-shared-knowledge-graphs-tool-recovering

The topic is “Shared knowledge graphs as a tool in recovering looted cultural heritage and the histories of marginalized people“. 

I hope the information provided will be helpful to cultural heritage professionals, provenance researchers, claimants, Holocaust scholars, art crime experts, museum and art market people.

(Do not let the words "knowledge graph" scare you. In this talk, I’ll show how we can connect information—people, places, artworks, events—into a kind of map of relationships. Think of it as a network of stories and connections. We can use this to retrieve lost information and to explore hidden networks over long periods of time, which is very useful for Nazi-looted art as well as other kinds of stolen or disappeared cultural heritage.) 

The event will take place at the Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste, Außenstelle Berlin, Seydelstraße 18, 10117 Berlin. 

It is also possible to join the event via Webex. (Register by Sep 12)

Registrations to:
German Lost Art Foundation
Heinrich Natho
Humboldtstr. 12 | 39112 Magdeburg
veranstaltungen@kulturgutverluste.de
---
See complete announcement below

Aug 28, 2025

Drouot Auction Catalogues 1939-1945

Reminder: The French INHA provides a link to search the famous Drouot Auction House Catalogues

https://aucase.inha.fr/search

Searcb possibilities include

  • Artist or School
  • Date
  • Auctioneer
  • Expert
  • Item category
  • Texts

One can find, for example, auctions of artworks that were looted from the estates of Jewish collectors like Gentili di Giuseppe and later restituted to heirs.

Succession de M. Gentili di Giuseppe, 1re vente [...] : [vente des 23 et 24 avril 1941]


Sothebys 2018
Manner of Alessandro Magnasco
Cardplayers by a fire
oil on canvas
59 x 44.3 cm.; 23 1/4  x 17 1/2  in. 
Provenance
With Benno Geiger, Venice, 1914;
Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe (1868–1940), Paris;
Forced sale of his deceased estate, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 23–24 April 1941, lot 53, for 20,000 FRF;
Private collection, Milan, by 1949;
On deposit in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1951–1999, inv. no. MNR 798;
Restituted to the heirs of Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe;
By whom sold ('The Collection of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe'), New York, Christie's, 27 January 2000, lot 83;
Jacob Elie Safra (b. 1948), New York;
By whom sold, ('The Collection of Jacob Elie Safra'), New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2011, lot 32, for $130,000;
Where acquired by the present owner.

***

(Sometimes, however, it's hard to find the Drouot transaction, like for this Signac, sold by Sothebys:



Description

Paul Signac
LES TOURS VERTES, LA ROCHELLE
signed P. Signac and dated 1913 (lower right)
oil on canvas
73 by 92cm.
28 3/4 by 36 1/4 in.
Provenance

Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired in 1913)
Léonce Rosenberg, Paris (acquired on 2nd December 1913)
Clausen, Copenhagen (1920)
Leicester Galleries, London (acquired circa 1920)
A. Metthey, Paris (1927)
Gaston Lévy, Paris (acquired by 1933)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 15th December 1943, lot 97
Galerie Robert Schmit, Paris
Galerie de l'Elysée, Paris
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owners in 1953

(Maybe an art historian can find it in the digital auction catalogue?)

***

More digital resources for art historians and provenance researchers are listed on the French Agorha site: https://agorha.inha.fr/database/76

The French INHA (Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art) digital library includes over 6,000 20th century  auction catalogues. French catalogues are from Drouot - 3,542, Christie, Manson and Woods - 921, Baudoin, Henri (1876-1963) -  636, Ader, Étienne (1903-1993) - 626, Sotheby's - 286, Lair-Dubreuil, Fernand (1867-1931) - 275, Dillée, Bernard - 251, Baudoin, Denis Émile Pierre - 249, Desvouges, André (1871-19??) - 249, Paulme, Marius (1863-1928) -239, Bottolier-Lasquin, Georges (18??-1932) - 228, Damidot, Paul - 198.  (lootedart.com)

Url to search:

https://bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr/collection/?&refine[Categories][]=Imprimés&refine[Categories][]=Imprimés$$$Catalogues%20de%20vente$$$20e%20siècle