[MSN] Austria returns Munch painting to heirs

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Austria returns Munch painting to heirs
By DPA
Nov 8, 2006, 19:00 GMT



Vienna - An Austrian panel Wednesday recommended returning Edvard Munch's
'Summer Night at the Beach' to Marina Fisturlari- Mahler, granddaughter and
heir of Alma Mahler, wife of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler. 

The panel ruled unanimously that the painting, presently on display at
Vienna's Belvedere Gallery is to be returned, despite differing earlier
court decisions. 

Austria's education ministry, formally in charge of restitution of artwork
stolen or confiscated by the Nazi regime, usually follows the panel
recommendations. 

In 1937 Alma Mahler-Werfel, by then married to Franz Werfel, agreed to loan
the painting to the Belvedere Gallery for two years. 

In March 1938, after Hitler's annexation of Austria, she had to flee the
country with her Jewish husband. 

Meanwhile the gallery attempted to buy the painting from her. She refused,
but in 1940 Alma's step father, Nazi supporter Carl Moll, sold the painting
to the Belvedere in the name of Alma's half-sister. 

After the end of World War II in 1945, Alma demanded the painting's return,
and in 1953 a commission ruled that her demands were justified. 

Several Austrian authorities however challenged the ruling, and as late as
1999 a restitution panel rejected claims by the Mahler family. 

Alma's granddaughter, Marina Fistulari-Mahler was 'overwhelmed' by the
decision, the Austrian press agency reported. 

Earlier this year Austria had to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt, also
from the Belvedere, to the heirs of Adele Bloch-Bauer, after years of legal
dispute. 

One of the five, the so-called 'Golden Adele' - one of Klimt's undisputed
masterpieces - was sold in June to art collector Ronald Lauder for 135
million dollars. 

The four remaining paintings were to be auctioned at Christie's in New York
on Wednesday. Christies estimated that the four paintings would fetch over
90 million dollars. 


C 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur