Stedelijk focuses on wartime role, 16 works of art have ‘dubious’ origins

There are 16 works of art in the collection of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk modern art museum which were acquired between 1933 and 1945 ‘under dubious circumstances’, the NRC says on Thursday.

The collections of some 150 museums and other institutions in the Netherlands are currently being examined to see if any of the work was stolen, confiscated by the Nazis or was involved in a forced sale during the war years. Many primarily Jewish collectors were coerced into handing over their collections by the Nazi occupiers.

Experts from the Stedelijk museum looked at 3,846 items and found several hundred had questions that needed answering, the NRC says. Talks are underway with relatives about compensation for three of the 16 works which are by Kandinsky, Matisse and Jan Toroop.

An exhibition about the Stedelijk museum and the Second World War – including the 16 highlighted works – opens on Friday.