Priceless painting looted during WWII returned to Poland from Japan
A precious Italian artwork from the 16th century stolen by Nazi Germany during World War II and later found in Japan has been restored to Poland.
The first war-loss to be repatriated from the Far East, the Madonna with Child painted by the Italian master Alessandro Turchi at the end of the 16th century was stolen by the Germans during the war from the extensive Lubomirski art collection in Przeworsk.
The first war-loss to be repatriated from the Far East, the Madonna with Child painted by the Italian master Alessandro Turchi at the end of the 16th century was stolen by the Germans during the war from the extensive Lubomirski art collection in Przeworsk.
It was later sold at auction in New York in 1990. After that, all trace of the painting was lost.
That was until last year, when Polish culture ministry art hunters tracked it down to an auction house in Tokyo in January 2022.
In order to prove to the Japanese that the painting had indeed been stolen during the war, culture ministry staff showed them a catalogue compiled by Hitler’s art thieves of the most important works of art seized from Polish collections.
Poland’s culture minister Piotr Gliński said during the handing over ceremony: “It was still a pandemic period, so contacts were not easy. In addition, cultural and historical issues also proved to be a barrier.
“Japan, as we know, was also an occupying power during World War II. Therefore, the situation was not simple.”
The Sichergestellte Kunstwerke im Generalgouvernement [Seized works of art in the General-Government] contains details of 521 artworks in total and Madonna with Child occupied position 145.
He added that following negotiations with the Japanese side, the auction house, Mainichi Auction Inc., as well as the person who was in possession of the painting, decided to return it to Poland without any costs.
Gliński said: “All legal and cultural-historical arguments were accepted by the Japanese side."
The culture ministry was keen to underline in its own press briefing in Warsaw yesterday the “very professional attitude of the auction house, which showed great understanding towards the restitution efforts undertaken by the Polish Ministry of Culture to establish the historical truth about the object in a reliable manner.”
Poland’s culture minister Piotr Gliński said during the handing over ceremony: “It was still a pandemic period, so contacts were not easy. In addition, cultural and historical issues also proved to be a barrier.
The head of the ministry's restitution of cultural goods section, Agata Modzelewska, said that the Polish side always emphasises in discussions that restoring plundered art is "the best moral and ethical gesture."
In order to prove to the Japanese that the painting had indeed been stolen during the war, culture ministry staff showed them a catalogue compiled by Hitler’s art thieves of the most important works of art seized from Polish collections.
The Sichergestellte Kunstwerke im Generalgouvernement [Seized works of art in the General-Government] contains details of 521 artworks in total and Madonna with Child occupied position 145.
The culture ministry said that on arriving in Poland and after undergoing conservation, the painting will most likely be displayed in the Lubomirski Museum currently being built in Wrocław.
The painting is the latest of over 600 looted artworks that Poland has successfully repatriated. More than 66,000 items remain unaccounted for on the culture ministry’s list of artworks lost during the war.
These are only the works that have been identified. It estimated that over half a million cultural artifacts went missing or were destroyed during the war.
The ministry said that on arriving in Poland and after undergoing conservation, the painting will most likely be displayed in the Lubomirski Museum currently being built in Wrocław.
