Jacques Goudstikker
Encyclopedia
Jacques Goudstikker was a Jewish Dutch
art dealer
who fled Holland when it was invaded by Nazis during World War II
, leaving an extensive and significant art collection including over 30 "Old Masters" which was looted by the Nazis. "Between the two World Wars, Jacques Goudstikker was probably the most important Netherlandish dealer of Old Master paintings", according to Peter C. Sutton, executive director and CEO of the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science
. The Dutch government restored the paintings to the Goudstikker family in 2006, and they were sold at auction
in 2007 for almost $10 million.
, and more intensely with Wilhelm Martin and William Vogelsang at Leiden and Utrecht
. In 1919 he joined his father's Amsterdam gallery, restructured it as a public limited liability company
with himself as the director and major shareholder, and introduced a notably more international style; publishing catalogs in French
rather than Dutch
, and showing for the first time Italian Renaissance painting
s, including The Madonna and Child by Francesco Squarcione
. This was revolutionary in Holland of the time, where in 1906, Dr. Adriaan Pit , the director of the Rijksmuseum
, had stated "We have become chauvinistic with regard to the field of art. This worship of our old school of painting, which started thirty years ago is still alive and appears not to let us appreciate any foreign art."
Following World War I
, Amsterdam once again became a center of international commerce, and Goudstikker flourished, along with fellow art dealers, P. de Boer, and Henri Douwes; in 1927 he moved to a larger gallery. Goudstikker rose above his contemporaries, however in presenting works from the Dutch Golden Age
alongside panels
by 14th century, 15th century and 16th century Dutch, Flemish, German and Italian painters, mixing painting
s, sculpture
s, carpet
s, and other works of art together, in the sophisticated style of Wilhelm von Bode
of Berlin
, much emulated in London
, Paris
, and New York
. Goudstikker's taste extended to the design of his catalogs, which were minor works of art in themselves.
Goudstikker maintained close ties with art historians and collectors. In the introduction to his 1928 catalog, he wrote "[W]e are happy as a logical development in our Italian department in having obtained the assistance of our compatriot Doctor Raimond van Marle", author of the influential The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. His clients, including J. W. Edwin vom Rath, Detlen Van Hadeln, J. H. van Heek, Ernst Proehl, Daniel G. van Beuningen, Heinrich Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon and Otto Lanz, also partook in this mix of connoisseurship and scholarship.
He staged an exhibit of Dutch and Flemish paintings, including five van Goghs, two van Dongens, and a Mondrian
, together with a group of 17th century works including a magnificent wooded landscape
by Philips Koninck, at the Anderson Gallery in New York
in 1923, organized through the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce; the Committee of Patrons included such society
notables as Mrs. T. J. Oakley Rhinelander and Mrs. Cortland S. Van Rensselaer.
The stock market crash
and Great Depression
took their toll on the connoisseur art trade, as on other luxury businesses. Goudstikker was forced to economize on production of his catalogs, but he still managed to organize a Rubens
exhibition in 1933, as well as what may have been his ultimate achievement, participating in the exhibition of Italian Paintings in Dutch Collections at the Stedelijk Museum
in Amsterdam
in 1934, where he personally showed Queen Wilhelmina
the exhibits.
While escaping the Nazis in May, 1940, Goudstikker fell in the hold of the SS Bodegraven, fatally breaking his neck.
art or art of the 18th century. While his specialty was Dutch 17th-century painting, his specific interest was the more stylized painters such as Cranach
, Marco Zoppo
, Squarcione and Pesellino, and he was particularly attracted to the unusual. Artists in his collection included Jan Steen
, Adriaen van Ostade
, Isaac van Ostade
, and tonal landscape
painters, such as Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael. He kept several notable paintings by Jan van der Heyden
at Nijenrode Castle, one of his two country homes where he also entertained clients and exhibited great art. Although he did carry some still life
s, such as the Jan van Huysum
in the National Gallery
, his major interest was in figure painters
, whether portrait
ists such as Jan Antonisz van Ravesteyn
or Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck
, or subject painters
like Bol
, Aert de Gelder
, or Jan Steen
.,
Other notable paintings owned by Goudstikker include The entrance to a harbor by Simon de Vlieger
, Extensive landscape with trees and a cottage by Philips Koninck, the Ferry Boat with cattle on the River Vecht near Nijenrode by Salomon van Ruysdael, the Saint Lucy by Jacopo del Casentino
, The Judgment of Paris by François Boucher
, The Fritole Seller by Pietro Longhi
, the Madonna and Child by Pacchiarotti, the Christ Carrying the Cross
by Hieronymous Bosch which now resides in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
of Vienna
, and Young Girl with a Flute by Vermeer, which was eventually purchased by Joseph Widener to donate to the National Gallery
in Washington, DC in 1942. Other American museum purchases from Goudstikker include a large altarpiece
by Luca Signorelli
depicting The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Michael and Benedict, by the Metropolitan Museum in New York
in 1929, and Pesellino's King David before the Ark of the Covenant by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
in Kansas
in 1932.,
The Collection comprises about 1113 works of art and 87 of them were sold for $20.78Millions
, his enormous collection (1,113 numbered paintings and an unknown quantity of unnumbered paintings ) was left behind to be looted and became the largest claim for restitution of Nazi-looted art
.
In a forced sale typical of such thefts, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
obtained the entire collection over the objections of Goudstikker's widow; on June 3, 1940, Goudstikker's employee Arie ten Broek was named director of the company; then, on July 13, ten Broek and another of Goudstikker's employees, Jan Dik were paid 180 thousand guilders each to sell all paintings and works of art to Göring for two million guilder
s, a fraction of their value, and the art gallery to Goering's henchman, German banker Alois Miedl, for 550 thousand guilders. Through a series of sham transactions later found illegal, Miedl acquired title to the J. Goudstikker trade name, what little art remained in the collection, and Goudstikker's real estate (Nijenrode castle in Breukelen
, the Herengracht 458 building in Amsterdam, and the country estate Oostermeer in Oudekerk aan de Amstel). With the asset of Goudstikker's internationally renowned trade name, Miedl went on to make a fortune marketing art internationally, particularly to Nazi Germany.,
Following World War II, the Allied forces recovered these treasures from Germany and gave them to the Dutch government as part of 'amicable restitution of rights', with the intention of returning them to their rightful owners; however, instead of returning them to Goudstikker's wife Desi, who sought their recovery from 1946 to 1952, they were retained as part of the Netherlands' National Collection. Between 1996 and 1998, Dutch investigative journalist Pieter den Hollander attracted international attention with his exposé
of how the post-war restitution of stolen art often ignored the rights of the legal owners, eventually documenting it in his book De zaak Goudstikker (The Goudstikker Case), published by Meulenhoff in 1998. At that time, Goudstikker's heirs sued for possession of these works, but their claim was rejected by the State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science. Official investigations, however, confirmed the mishandling of postwar restitutions, and as a result, the Dutch government created the Restitutions Committee to review claims to art treasures in the government's possession. On the recommendations of the Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown) Committee chaired by Prof. dr. R.E.O. Ekkart, after eight years of legal battles, in 2006 the Dutch government restored 202 paintings to Goudstikker's sole remaining heir, his daughter in law Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's wife Desi and only son Edo both having died in 1996; many of them were sold at auction
in 2007 for almost $10 million.Goudstikker: 'At Long Last, Justice', PR Newswire Europe Ltd., 6 February 2006
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
art dealer
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
who fled Holland when it was invaded by Nazis during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, leaving an extensive and significant art collection including over 30 "Old Masters" which was looted by the Nazis. "Between the two World Wars, Jacques Goudstikker was probably the most important Netherlandish dealer of Old Master paintings", according to Peter C. Sutton, executive director and CEO of the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science
Bruce Museum of Arts and Science
The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science is a small institution in downtown Greenwich, Connecticut with both art and science exhibition space. "The Bruce," as it's more familiarly known, has holdings of about 15,000 objects, including fine art, decorative art, natural history and anthropology.A second...
. The Dutch government restored the paintings to the Goudstikker family in 2006, and they were sold at auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
in 2007 for almost $10 million.
Biography
Goudstikker was the son of an art dealer, Eduard Goudstikker. He studied at the Commercial School in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, and more intensely with Wilhelm Martin and William Vogelsang at Leiden and Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. In 1919 he joined his father's Amsterdam gallery, restructured it as a public limited liability company
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
with himself as the director and major shareholder, and introduced a notably more international style; publishing catalogs in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
rather than Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, and showing for the first time Italian Renaissance painting
Italian Renaissance painting
Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring within the area of present-day Italy, which was at that time divided into many political areas...
s, including The Madonna and Child by Francesco Squarcione
Francesco Squarcione
Francesco Squarcione was an Italian artist from Padua. His pupils included Andrea Mantegna , Cosimo Tura and Carlo Crivelli...
. This was revolutionary in Holland of the time, where in 1906, Dr. Adriaan Pit , the director of the Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...
, had stated "We have become chauvinistic with regard to the field of art. This worship of our old school of painting, which started thirty years ago is still alive and appears not to let us appreciate any foreign art."
Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Amsterdam once again became a center of international commerce, and Goudstikker flourished, along with fellow art dealers, P. de Boer, and Henri Douwes; in 1927 he moved to a larger gallery. Goudstikker rose above his contemporaries, however in presenting works from the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
alongside panels
Panel painting
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or vellum, which was used for...
by 14th century, 15th century and 16th century Dutch, Flemish, German and Italian painters, mixing painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s, carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
s, and other works of art together, in the sophisticated style of Wilhelm von Bode
Wilhelm von Bode
Wilhelm von Bode was a German art historian and curator. Born Arnold William Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913...
of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, much emulated in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Goudstikker's taste extended to the design of his catalogs, which were minor works of art in themselves.
Goudstikker maintained close ties with art historians and collectors. In the introduction to his 1928 catalog, he wrote "[W]e are happy as a logical development in our Italian department in having obtained the assistance of our compatriot Doctor Raimond van Marle", author of the influential The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. His clients, including J. W. Edwin vom Rath, Detlen Van Hadeln, J. H. van Heek, Ernst Proehl, Daniel G. van Beuningen, Heinrich Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon and Otto Lanz, also partook in this mix of connoisseurship and scholarship.
He staged an exhibit of Dutch and Flemish paintings, including five van Goghs, two van Dongens, and a Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
, together with a group of 17th century works including a magnificent wooded landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
by Philips Koninck, at the Anderson Gallery in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1923, organized through the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce; the Committee of Patrons included such society
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
notables as Mrs. T. J. Oakley Rhinelander and Mrs. Cortland S. Van Rensselaer.
The stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
and Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
took their toll on the connoisseur art trade, as on other luxury businesses. Goudstikker was forced to economize on production of his catalogs, but he still managed to organize a Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
exhibition in 1933, as well as what may have been his ultimate achievement, participating in the exhibition of Italian Paintings in Dutch Collections at the Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Founded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1934, where he personally showed Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
the exhibits.
While escaping the Nazis in May, 1940, Goudstikker fell in the hold of the SS Bodegraven, fatally breaking his neck.
Goudstikker's artistic taste
Goudstikker's main stock in trade were paintings by the Old Masters; he did not express much interest in Italian BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
art or art of the 18th century. While his specialty was Dutch 17th-century painting, his specific interest was the more stylized painters such as Cranach
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, Marco Zoppo
Marco Zoppo
Marco Zoppo was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in his native Bologna. He was a pupil of the painter Lippo Dalmasio then for a few years with Francesco Squarcione around 1455, and thus part of the Bolognese School of painting. He was a contemporary of Andrea Mantegna...
, Squarcione and Pesellino, and he was particularly attracted to the unusual. Artists in his collection included Jan Steen
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century . Psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour are marks of his trade.-Life:...
, Adriaen van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works.-Life:...
, Isaac van Ostade
Isaac van Ostade
Isaac van Ostade was a Dutch genre and landscape painter.-Biography:Van Ostade began his studies under his brother, Adriaen, with whom he remained till 1641, when he started his own practice...
, and tonal landscape
Tonalism
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
painters, such as Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael. He kept several notable paintings by Jan van der Heyden
Jan van der Heyden
Jan van der Heyden was a Dutch Baroque-era painter, draughtsman, printmaker, a mennonite and inventor who significantly contributed to contemporary firefighting. He improved the fire hose in 1672, with his brother Nicolaes, who was a hydraulic engineer...
at Nijenrode Castle, one of his two country homes where he also entertained clients and exhibited great art. Although he did carry some still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s, such as the Jan van Huysum
Jan van Huysum
Jan van Huysum, also spelled Huijsum, was a Dutch painter.-Biography:He was the brother of Jacob van Huysum, the son of the flower painter Justus van Huysum, and the grandson of Jan van Huysum I, who is said to have been expeditious in decorating doorways, screens and vases...
in the National Gallery
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, his major interest was in figure painters
Figure painting
Figure painting is a form of the visual arts in which the artist uses a live model as the subject of a two-dimensional piece of artwork using paint as the medium. The live model can be either nude or partly or fully clothed and the painting is a representation of the full body of the model...
, whether portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
ists such as Jan Antonisz van Ravesteyn
Jan Antonisz van Ravesteyn
Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn was a successful painter to the Dutch court in The Hague.-Biography:...
or Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck
Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck
Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck was a gifted Dutch Golden Age portraitist.-Biography:...
, or subject painters
Sulman Prize
The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest running art prizes, having been established in 1936.It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales , Sydney.-Criteria:The Sir John...
like Bol
Hans Bol
Hans Bol , Flemish artist, received his early training from his two uncles who were also painters. He then was the apprentice to a Mechelen watercolorist and tempera painter at the age of fourteen. Because Bol’s watercolors became so widely reproduced, he began creating miniatures on parchment. The...
, Aert de Gelder
Aert de Gelder
Aert de Gelder was a Dutch painter.De Gelder was born and died in Dordrecht. He was one of Rembrandt’s last pupils while in Amsterdam, studying in his studio from 1661 to 1663...
, or Jan Steen
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century . Psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour are marks of his trade.-Life:...
.,
Other notable paintings owned by Goudstikker include The entrance to a harbor by Simon de Vlieger
Simon de Vlieger
Simon de Vlieger was a Dutch designer, draughtsman, and painter, most famous for his marine paintings.-Life:...
, Extensive landscape with trees and a cottage by Philips Koninck, the Ferry Boat with cattle on the River Vecht near Nijenrode by Salomon van Ruysdael, the Saint Lucy by Jacopo del Casentino
Jacopo del Casentino
Jacopo del Casentino was an Italian painter called Jacopo Landino or da Prato Vecchio, active mainly in Tuscany...
, The Judgment of Paris by François Boucher
François Boucher
François Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
, The Fritole Seller by Pietro Longhi
Pietro Longhi
Pietro Longhi was a Venetian painter of contemporary scenes of life.-Biography:Pietro Longhi was born in Venice in the parish of Saint Maria, first child of the silversmith Alessandro Falca and his wife, Antonia. He adopted the Longhi last name when he began to paint...
, the Madonna and Child by Pacchiarotti, the Christ Carrying the Cross
Christ Carrying the Cross
Christ Carrying the Cross is the name of several paintings:By Hieronymus Bosch:* Christ Carrying the Cross * Christ Carrying the Cross * Christ Carrying the Cross By Leonardo da Vinci:...
by Hieronymous Bosch which now resides in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and Young Girl with a Flute by Vermeer, which was eventually purchased by Joseph Widener to donate to the National Gallery
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, DC in 1942. Other American museum purchases from Goudstikker include a large altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
by Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman and his use of foreshortening...
depicting The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Michael and Benedict, by the Metropolitan Museum in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1929, and Pesellino's King David before the Ark of the Covenant by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in 1932.,
The Collection comprises about 1113 works of art and 87 of them were sold for $20.78Millions
Fate of collection
When Goudstikker died in 1940, six days after the death of his executorExecutor
An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .-Overview:...
, his enormous collection (1,113 numbered paintings and an unknown quantity of unnumbered paintings ) was left behind to be looted and became the largest claim for restitution of Nazi-looted art
Nazi plunder
Nazi plunder refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, particularly by military...
.
In a forced sale typical of such thefts, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
obtained the entire collection over the objections of Goudstikker's widow; on June 3, 1940, Goudstikker's employee Arie ten Broek was named director of the company; then, on July 13, ten Broek and another of Goudstikker's employees, Jan Dik were paid 180 thousand guilders each to sell all paintings and works of art to Göring for two million guilder
Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden'. The guilder originated as a gold coin but has been a common name for a silver or base metal coin for some centuries...
s, a fraction of their value, and the art gallery to Goering's henchman, German banker Alois Miedl, for 550 thousand guilders. Through a series of sham transactions later found illegal, Miedl acquired title to the J. Goudstikker trade name, what little art remained in the collection, and Goudstikker's real estate (Nijenrode castle in Breukelen
Breukelen
Breukelen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and touristic interest...
, the Herengracht 458 building in Amsterdam, and the country estate Oostermeer in Oudekerk aan de Amstel). With the asset of Goudstikker's internationally renowned trade name, Miedl went on to make a fortune marketing art internationally, particularly to Nazi Germany.,
Following World War II, the Allied forces recovered these treasures from Germany and gave them to the Dutch government as part of 'amicable restitution of rights', with the intention of returning them to their rightful owners; however, instead of returning them to Goudstikker's wife Desi, who sought their recovery from 1946 to 1952, they were retained as part of the Netherlands' National Collection. Between 1996 and 1998, Dutch investigative journalist Pieter den Hollander attracted international attention with his exposé
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
of how the post-war restitution of stolen art often ignored the rights of the legal owners, eventually documenting it in his book De zaak Goudstikker (The Goudstikker Case), published by Meulenhoff in 1998. At that time, Goudstikker's heirs sued for possession of these works, but their claim was rejected by the State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science. Official investigations, however, confirmed the mishandling of postwar restitutions, and as a result, the Dutch government created the Restitutions Committee to review claims to art treasures in the government's possession. On the recommendations of the Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown) Committee chaired by Prof. dr. R.E.O. Ekkart, after eight years of legal battles, in 2006 the Dutch government restored 202 paintings to Goudstikker's sole remaining heir, his daughter in law Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's wife Desi and only son Edo both having died in 1996; many of them were sold at auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
in 2007 for almost $10 million.Goudstikker: 'At Long Last, Justice', PR Newswire Europe Ltd., 6 February 2006