German Casino Returns Nazi-looted Painting to University Heirs of Stern Estate

MONTREAL, October 24, 2011 -

Amsterdam Museum Pays Special Tribute to Portrait Painter of Dutch Golden Age

Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, acting on behalf of the executors of the Estate of Dr. Max Stern and its three university beneficiaries (Concordia, McGill University/Montreal, Hebrew University/Jerusalem) announces the restitution of a painting belonging to the German-Jewish art dealer. The return of The Masters of the Goldsmith Guild in Amsterdam in 1701 by Dutch portrait painter, Juriaen Pool II (1665-1745), will take place on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:00am (Central European Time) at The Amsterdam Museum, St Luciënsteeg 27, Amsterdam.

The location of the ceremony is particularly significant as the Dutch museum has an extraordinary connection to the artist who lived in the 17^th century building which was an orphanage and is now a newly-opened children’s museum.

The Pool painting is the ninth Nazi-looted artwork to be returned to the university heirs. It was learned that this large-scale painting of some of Amsterdam’s most important citizens had been with the Galerie Stern as late as 1937 when it moved to the Galerie Heinemann in Wiesbaden. In the years after the Second World War it was acquired by a casino in southern Germany where it has been ever since.

Concordia University remains hopeful there will be equally positive outcomes from ongoing discussions with a number of other German organizations, including some major museums, who also possess Stern works.

Dr. Max Stern (1904-1987) was forced to dissolve his Düsseldorf art gallery business during the Nazi period. Following World War II, he settled permanently in Montreal, Canada where he became one of the country’s most important art dealers and collectors. He bequeathed the bulk of his estate to three major universities. The Max Stern Art Restitution Project is spearheaded by Concordia through the Office of the President, working in close collaboration with the Holocaust Claims Processing Office as well as with numerous institutions and government agencies worldwide including the Art Loss Register, Interpol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Related Link:

Concordia University Media Relations
High-resolution image of the painting
Max Stern Restitution Project

Media Contact:                                                          
Dr. Clarence Epstein                                                 
Director, Special Projects/Cultural Affairs                 
Office of the President
Concordia University
Clarence.epstein@concordia.ca         

Source:
Fiona Downey
Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
Phone: +1-514-848-2424, ext. 2518
Cell: +1-514-518-3336
Fax: +1-514-848-3383
Email: fdowney@alcor.concordia.ca

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