[MSN] A long-lost, multi-million dollar art collection that includes hundreds of paintings has begun to resurface after a 70-year disappearance.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Concordia unveils painting seized in Nazi era



 
Dr. Willi Korte looks at a painting by Emile Vernet-Lecomte titled 'Aimee, a
Young Egyptian' in Montreal Thursday Oct. 19, 2006. (CP / Ryan Remiorz)
 
This image from 1950 shows Max Stern and his wife Iris looking at an
advertisement showing works from the Stern collection confiscated by the
Nazis.(Photo courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada.)
 
Aimee, a Young Egyptian (1869) by renowned French historical painter, Emile
Lecomte-Vernet (1821-1900), was unveiled at a press conference on Oct. 19 at
Concordia's FOFA Gallery.
 
CTV.ca News Staff 
  
Updated: Thu. Oct. 19 2006 11:17 PM ET 

A long-lost, multi-million dollar art collection that includes hundreds of
paintings has begun to resurface after a 70-year disappearance. 

Photos:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061019/stern_painting_
061019/20061019?hub=CTVNewsAt11

The collection went missing when art dealer Max Stern escaped Nazi Germany
in 1937, fleeing briefly to Paris, then England and then on to Canada where
he settled. 


It is thought that the collection was seized or stolen after Stern fled the
country. 


One of the paintings has now been recovered. It was unveiled Thursday at
Concordia University in Montreal for the first time since the collection
went missing. The painting, Aimee, a Young Egyptian by the French historical
painter, Emile Lecomte-Vernet, was shown at a press conference at
Concordia's FOFA Gallery at the university's new engineering and visual arts
building.

The painting, rendered in 1869, is part of Stern's Dusseldorf collection,
which contains about 400 pieces covering a period ranging from the
Renaissance to early 20th-century realism and includes works by artists such
as Jan Brueghel, Hieronymus Bosch and Max Liebermann. 



The unveiling came largely as the result of the work of Clarence Epstein,
the director of special projects at Concordia, which is one of Stern's
beneficiaries. 


Epstein has tracked Stern's missing collection relentlessly for the past six
years. Along the way he has worked with international agencies including the
Holocaust Claims Processing Office, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe,
Interpol and the Art Loss Register. 


By last year Epstein and his team had identified some 250 of the paintings,
and five had been located in the U.S., England, Germany and Holland. 


"The executors and beneficiaries hope to avoid using the courts and instead
use moral suasion to convince those institutions and individuals in Europe
and abroad to return the works to the beneficiaries of one of the most
important dealers and collectors in Canadian history," states a 2005 release
from Concordia. 


The team has been working on behalf of the key beneficiaries of the estate
of Max and Iris Stern, Concordia, McGill and Hebrew University. 


After settling in Canada, Stern became the director the Dominion Gallery of
Fine Arts in Montreal, which he later purchased in 1947. Stern remained at
the gallery for close to half a century, gaining a reputation for spotting
talent. He exhibited the works of Canadian talent including Emily Carr and
Paul-Emile Bordhaus. 


Stern died in 1987.