Artwork from Hearst Castle returned to heirs of Jewish couple

 

The grandchildren of a Jewish couple whose artwork was taken by the Nazis in 1935 received three of the paintings back from the state of California this afternoon at a ceremony in Sacramento attended by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Nazis forced Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer to liquidate their Berlin art gallery. Through various sales, the paintings were eventually purchased by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and ended up at Hearst Castle, owned by the state parks department since 1972. The family asked for them back in 2007.

 “As soon as we discovered what the true story was behind it … the state acted very quickly, at once, to set things right,” Schwarzenegger said at the cermeony, held at the Leland Stanford Mansion. “But of course a wrong cannot be fully righted when the victims have long since passed away.”

The Oppenheimers fled the Nazis to live in France, where Jakob died in 1941. Rosa died at Auschwitz two years later. One of the paintings, “Venus and Cupid,” by a student of Venetian painter Paris Bordone, will remain at the castle where it will be used to educate visitors.

The other two, portraits by a student of Jacopo Tintoretto and by a Venetian artist thought to be Giovanni Cariani, may be sold by the family. Inge Blackshear of Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of the Oppenheimers’ grandchildren, said her feelings were “very mixed,” but overall, she was pleased.

 “My grandchildren will be able to go to a very good school and I’m so happy and so thankful,” she said. “So I want to thank all of you, the state of California, the people of California. Thank you very much.”

 -- Michael Rothfeld

Photos: "Venus and Cupid," left, by a student of the Venetian painter Paris Bordone; and an unidentified man thought to have been painted by Giovanni Cariani. The paintings had been stolen from Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer in 1935 by the Nazis, and ended up in the Hearst Castle. They were returned to the Oppenheimers' descendants today. Credit: Hearst Castle.

Comments

[c.r.e.a.m]

"The grandchildren of a Jewish couple whose artwork was taken by the Nazis"

then a short while later

"The Nazis forced Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer to liquidate their Berlin art gallery."

So, they already received money for the painting, now they want California to give them the paintings to be sold again. Awesome.

[C.o.u.n.t.e.r.]

To the poster above:

I'm willing to bet that the price Hearst paid at the Nazi-forced liquidation was not a fair market price. I think that's obvious, and I'm guessing you do too, but you relished the opportunity to lob a greed allegation on some Jews.

I would bet there was no double recovery for the paintings.

[Just walking the dog here]

c.r.e.a.m! Do you understand what the words "The Nazis forced Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer to liquidate their Berlin art gallery."really meant? It meant, the nazi's are going to make you "sell" your art for pennies (no doubt to some "impartial Swiss bank" and then your are going to be killed when the German Army marches into France, which you though would be safe!" c.r.e.a.m. Do you know anything of history at all? I will assume that at best you are an idiot, at worst a bigot.

[MountainFella]

A "forced" sale of works of art from the Oppenheimer collection has finally been "made whole" with their return to relatives. Ignorant ethnic slurs and Limbaughesk observations, as usual, indicate persons suffering from below the common denominator intelligence levels. Let these individuals swirl in their cauldron of swill and thin ideas.

Bravo to the State of California for acting responsibly!

[dean]

to the poster above: small clarification. Hearst did not buy the paintings from the Nazis. They changed hands several times in the interim, and it's assumed he did not know their provenance. It would be interesting to follow the chain of ownership and find out who actually profited from the forced sale in the first instance.

[lilly]

I'm sure that if someone forced you to sell your belongings at a garage sale and then hauled you off to a concentration camp where you died, whatever pennies you might get at the garage sale would be of little consolation.

[bob]

C>R>E>A>M lets liquidate you - not at Auschwitz but in a max security prison where you can bootie for Bubba. Or would an anti-semite like youself be content with being stomped