The dispute over the famous Picasso painting “Madame Soler” in the Bavarian State Painting Collections has turned into a fundamental debate. For Art Minister Markus Blume (CSU), the matter is clear: “‘Madame Soler’ is not a case of looted art.” The opposition sees it differently. On Thursday, Blume announced a Federal Council initiative by the Free State. The federal government must “finally create legal certainty” and present a restitution law for the return of “cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution”.
As soon as Nazi-looted art is identified in the holdings of state museums and collections, it will also be restituted. In the case of “Madame Soler”, however, the situation is different after an “extremely careful” examination. In 1934 or 1935, the painting from Picasso’s blue phase was listed as “purchased” by the Jewish art dealer Justin Thannhauser, until then it belonged to the banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. In 1964, the Free State of Bavaria bought it from Thannhauser. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s heirs are of the opinion that the work was sold under pressure from the Nazi regime or placed in the care of the art dealer. The provenance researchers of the Free State obviously judged differently. Most recently, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) intervened and asked the state government to agree to an appeal to the “Advisory Commission”.
Blume, however, considers the results of the provenance researchers to be unequivocal and therefore rejects an examination by the Advisory Commission. Green parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann spoke of a “poor testimony” and a “deeply shameful” process. Blume gambles away his credibility when he refers to the “cultural-political task” involved in the restitution of Nazi-looted art on the one hand, and on the other hand fails to tackle this task “on his own doorstep, here and now.” Because the State Painting Collections received federal funds, they would have to agree to a hearing by the Limbach Commission, as demanded by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s heirs.
The SPD cultural politician Volkmar Halbleib said that the CSU was doing “a classic diversionary tactic”. The fact that there has been no restitution law so far does not stand in the way of proceedings before the “Advisory Commission”. “The exact opposite is the case,” said the member of parliament: “As long as there is no such law, the work of the commission is so important, especially in cases of doubt.” The committee should therefore have been turned on: “Now the heirs will be deprived of a fair and neutral process.” Other well-known museums such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York have now restituted works that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy once owned.