Dutch Museums Must Return 202 Artworks to Heirs of Jewish Owner

The Dutch National Art Collection must give 202 artworks to the heirs of Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish gallery owner who fled the Netherlands ahead of the advancing Nazis in World War II and abandoned his possessions.

Goudstikker died while trying to escape to the U.S. in 1940. “His loss of possession during the war must be considered involuntary,” a spokeswoman for the Restitutions Committee, said today. The committee advises on restitution of property lost, stolen or looted in World War II.

‘It’s always a shame when we lose one of our paintings because they’re all important pieces,” Rijksmuseum spokesman Boris de Munnick in an interview today. “I think it’s important the family take their time to decide what to do.”