What Role Are the Auction Houses Playing in Resolving Restitution Disputes?

Graham Bowley says that Christie’s helped resolve a dispute between the consignors and the heirs of René Gimpel, the Parisian dealer who owned this Monet before the second World War, but he doesn’t explain how:

Auction houses have been struggling with how to manage the sale of artwork transferred with sketchy provenance during the chaos of the war. But in some instances, they have been able to help arrange restitution settlements that allow the works to be sold by their current owners but also enable the heirs of Jewish victims to reap some benefit. […]

“It is a measure of the sympathetic understanding from both the painting’s consignor and from Christie’s that my family sees closure on this matter,” said Mr. Gimpel, whose father was also interred in concentration camps, but survived.

“The search for items which disappeared during World War II requires a great deal of patience, sometimes luck and above all, hard work,” he said. “It’s a gossamer thread and we remain sanguine.”

Mr. Gimpel said his family had reached restitution agreements on two other artworks that had belonged to his grandfather, including a Gainsborough portrait, “Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Edgar,” that was sold at Sotheby’s in London in December for about $31,400 including buyer’s premium.

Heirs to French Art Dealer May Benefit from Sale of Monet Lost During World War II  (NYTimes.com)