Stedelijk returns Matisse to relatives of Jewish owner

The Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam is to return a painting by Matisse to the relatives of its former Jewish owner.

Odalisque (1920-1921), was bought by the museum from the German-Jewish Albert Stern, one of the founders of the textile company Graumann & Stern, in 1941.

The museum has accepted the conclusion of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, validated by the Dutch equivalent Expertisecentrum Restitutie ECR, that Stern was forced to part with the painting when he and his family fled to the Netherlands in 1937 because of the Nazi persecution.

The family needed the money to provide for themselves, which is why the ECR said its acquisition comes under “involuntary loss of property directly linked to the Nazi regime’.

Despite their flight, Stern and his wife ended up being deported to several camps. Albert Stern died in 1945. His wife survived and emigrated to Britain.

“This work represents a very sad family history and is linked to the immeasurable harm that has been done to this family,” Rein Wolfs, director of the Stedelijk Museum, said in a statement.

At least 170 works of art that were stolen or taken from their Jewish owners under dubious circumstances during World War II have been identified in Dutch museums so far. The Stedelijk has at least 15 objects with a similar provenance.