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LOST: Tintoretto's "Adoration of the Christ Child", FOUND: Kupelwieser's "Three Kings"

On the Trail of Nazi-Looted Artworks (3rd in a Series of 10)

December 26, 2003

A new book uncovers the whereabouts of lost art collections plundered by the Nazis during the Third Reich in Vienna

Vienna, Austria – Art historian Sophie Lillie has uncovered the fate of 148 significant Nazi-looted collections, many pieces of which were considered lost. Her new book “Was Einmal War: A Handbook of Vienna’s Plundered Art Collections” is a 1,440-page landmark in provenance research as many Holocaust survivors and their families are still waiting for the restitution of their legitimate property.

Jacopo Tintoretto, attrib.,
Jacopo Tintoretto, attrib., "Mary and Joseph’s Adoration of the Christ Child", © Private archive
Lost: Jacopo Tintoretto's "Mary and Joseph’s Adoration of the Christ Child" (attrib.)
This painting from the collection of textiles industrialist Dr. Gustav Arens was rescued by his daughter Anna Ungar who brought it to Paris in 1938. It was sequestered during the Nazi occupation in 1942. Its present whereabouts are unknown.

Leopold Kupelwieser,
Leopold Kupelwieser, "The Three Kings", 1825, © Federal Monuments Office, Vienna
Found: Leopold Kupelwieser's "The Three Kings"
In 1939, the City of Vienna seized this painting which was part of the collection of Dr. Josef und Gusti Blauhorn. In 1940, the appointed assets executor Dr. Hans Dechant sold the painting to the Austrian Gallery Belvedere where it is still to be found today.

Sophie Lillie’s “Was Einmal War: A Handbook of Vienna’s Plundered Art Collections”
These are but two works of art that Lillie has tracked down after years of extensive research matching official Nazi documents and seizure records with itemizations in auction or exhibition catalogs. Currently available in German only, “Was Einmal War” is an indispensable handbook for collectors, curators and dealers.

Published 2003 by Czernin Verlag, Vienna, Austria.

“An essential foundation for further investigations into Nazi art looting. Time-consuming detailed research rescues the collections from oblivion.” – Süddeutsche Zeitung

“A monumental work. A scandal-provoking book."-- Die Presse

"Lillie’s work is not just a document about art crimes. It is also a monument to the people whose collections were looted." – Profil

“ A staggering documentation” – Der Standard

Press contact:
Irene Laviña
Tel: +43 676 405 9515
Fax: +43 1 276 4278
irenelavina@consultant.com

Press Release: Sophie Lillie, "Was Einmal War: A Handbook of Vienna's Plundered Art Collections" (23.4 KB)
LOST: Klimt’s “Friends”, FOUND: Klimt’s “Church in Cassone” (66.1 KB)
LOST: del Fiore's "Mary with Child", FOUND: van Heemskerck's Two Altar Pieces (41.6 KB)
LOST: Tintoretto's "Adoration of the Christ Child", FOUND: Kupelwieser's "Three Kings" (41.2 KB)