Selling Nazi looted art in Austria (ctd.)
May 1 2017
Picture: Im Kinsky
As far as I can see, the looted van der Helst knowingly offered at auction in Austria last week didn't sell.
Update - I was wrong, it was withdrawn just before the sale. A reader has alerted me to this piece in the New York Times by Nina Siegal, which includes this reasoning from Dr Ploil of Im Kinsky:
Ernst Ploil, director and chief executive of im Kinsky, said the auction house had received about 30 hostile emails, “accusing us of being Nazis and of collaborating with Hitler.” Some contained threats, he said.
The owner was worried that if he sold the painting, “maybe his car is ruined or his house is set on fire,” Dr. Ploil added. “He was afraid.”
Dr. Ploil said the owner did not think he was morally obliged to refrain from selling the work.
“It’s not for moral reasons,” he said of the decision to withdraw the painting. “It’s not that he doesn’t feel he is acting on totally a legal basis. It’s only because of the pressure.”
