Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BERLIN (AP) — Officials have returned a painting looted by the Nazis to the heirs of a Jewish French politician and resistance figure who was executed during World War II.
"Portrait of a Seated Young Woman" by Thomas Couture, which belonged to Georges Mandel, was discovered in late collector Cornelius Gurlitt's art trove while German authorities were investigating a tax case in 2012.
The reclusive Bavarian collector inherited much of a 1,500-piece collection from his father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, an art dealer who traded in works confiscated by the Nazis. Many are thought to have been looted from their original Jewish owners, but provenance research has been slow and only a few have been restituted.
Culture Minister Monika Gruetters pledged at Tuesday's handover to Mandel's relatives to do everything possible to return stolen art to its rightful owners.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.