German Lost Art Foundation removes 63 Schiele works from database

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German Lost Art Foundation removes 63 Schiele works from database | The German Lost Art Foundation has been criticised for removing 63 artworks by Egon Schiele from its public database of possibly Nazi-looted art, reports the New York Times. The works all once belonged to Viennese-Jewish collector Fritz Grünbaum, who died in a concentration camp in 1941. According to the NYT, dealers specialising in Schiele’s work lobbied to have them removed from the database on the grounds that they were sold ‘fair and square’ by one of Grünbaum’s relatives after the war. The collector’s heirs dispute this claim – they are supported by a New York court ruling from earlier this year that ordered dealer Richard Nagy to return two Schieles from the collection on the basis that they were looted (Nagy is appealing the ruling).

Georgia returns 17th-century painting to Germany | The Georgian authorities have returned a 17th-century painting by Pietro Francesco Cittadini, Still Life With Hare (c. 1650) to Germany, reports the Art Newspaper. The still life, first acquired for the Saxon royal collection in 1741, is thought to have been looted by Red Army troops while stored at the Schloss Barnitz Palace towards the end of the Second World War. It subsequently made its way into a private collection in Georgia; the Georgian government is compensating the current owner for its return to Germany, where it will join two other Cittadini paintings at Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister. 

Berlin’s Arratia Beer Gallery to Close | The founders of the Berlin-based Arratia Beer Gallery, Euridice Arratia and Elizabeth Beer, have announced its closure. First established in 2006, the gallery worked with artists including Maria Anwander, Omer Fast, Mary Reid Kelley, Javier Téllez and Claudia Wieser.