The Art Newspaper charts the results of Canada’s leadership in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, a 31-country consortium, looking for looted art. Canada’s government has set aside $190,000 for provenance research in six Canadian museums, including the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ontario. The early results have already benefited Christie’s:
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts announced it had returned The Duet, a 17th-century painting by the Dutch artist Gerrit van Honthorst, to the grandson of the Jewish art collector Bruno Spiro. Spiro, a Hamburg-based arms dealer, and his wife were forced to sell the painting during the Second World War.
The Duet is the cover lot of Christie’s Old Master paintings sale, to be held on 5 June in New York. It is estimated to sell for $2m to $3m.
Canadian Government Funds Research on Holocaust-era Art (The Art Newspaper)
