Landscape by the Water by Maurice de Vlaminck (left) and Still Life with a Bottle by André Derain (right)

Croatian Museum Returned Paintings to the Descendant of Jewish Owner

On Monday, September 18, the National Museum of Modern Art returned two paintings—Still Life with a Bottle by André Derain and Landscape by the Water by Maurice de Vlaminck—to Andrew Reichsman, the descendant of the original Jewish owner Dane Reichsmann, in accordance with the decision of the Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb.

After the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941, most Croatian Jews had their property confiscated. The Reichsmann family managed to hand over the artworks to Marijan Polić for safekeeping. After Dane and his wife perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp, the paintings were to be inherited by their daughter, Danica Ann Reichsmann Svoboda.

In 1946, after they were taken from Marijan Polić by the post-war Commission for the Collection and Preservation of Cultural Monuments and Antiquities, the paintings were given to the National Museum of Modern Art by the Ministry of Science and Culture on behalf of the State as the owner. However, they were not registered in the inventory but recorded in the book of deposits, which facilitated the restitution to Andrew Reichman, who inherited both paintings from his aunt Danica Ann.

The Museum issued a statement emphasizing the importance of legal regulation of the restitution of art unjustly confiscated in the Second World War and its aftermath as a fundamental civilizational, ethical, and professional obligation.

EGMUS – Plenary meeting held in Belgrade

A plenary meeting of the European Group on Museum Statistics (EGMUS) was held on April 20-21, 2023, in Belgrade, organized by the Institute for the Study of Cultural Development. The focus of the international meeting was the contribution of museum statistics to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of the UN's Agenda 2030.

Other topics important for quality statistics and efficient methodological approaches were also discussed, including the new electronic template for national reports, ISO standards for museums, European projects (EIT Culture & Creativity), and the application in statistics of the new museum definition (ICOM).

Some thirty experts from 12 countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Spain - online, Switzerland), and representatives of Eurostat, Glammons, and Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends attended the two-day meeting.

Gordana Bralić from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and Tea Rihtar Jurić from the Museum Documentation Center presented data for Croatia.

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