Bristol City Council keeps Renoir painting sold at Nazi auction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34276492

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A Renoir painting owned by a Jewish family and sold at an auction organised by the Nazis can remain with Bristol City Council, a report has found.

The Coast of Cagnes was left to the friends of the Bristol Art Gallery in 1999 by a Jewish man from Austria.

It was sold in 1935 after its owners, art dealers Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, were banned as directors by the Nazis.

But, an advisory panel found the artwork was sold because of a bank debt rather than any Nazi persecution.

The Oppenheimers owned the Margraf group, a fine art and jewellery dealership in Germany.

To avoid arrest, they fled the country for France and the painting was later sold at a Nazi-organised auction in Berlin.

'Moral strength insufficient'

The Spoliation Advisory Panel, which resolves claims over cultural objects lost during the Nazi era and now held in UK national collections, has rejected a claim on behalf of Margraf.

According to the panel's report, the painting was brought to Bristol in 1939 by Leopold Moller - who fled Hamburg to escape the German forces.

On his death in 1999, it was left to the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery and then given to the city council and displayed at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

The panel concluded the artwork had been sold because of a bank debt rather than any Nazi persecution the Oppenheimers were subjected to.

"In all the circumstances, the panel finds that the moral strength of Margraf's claim is insufficient to justify a recommendation that the painting be transferred or that an ex-gratia payment be made," the report said.

A Bristol City Council spokesman said it had received the Spoliation Advisory Panel's report and "respect their recommendation".