The pieces come from the Commissioner General of the National Artistic Heritage and 22 of them were already accessible on the museum’s website
The Museo Nacional del Prado has compiled and published the complete list of the works deposited in its collections by the General Commission for the Defense of Artistic Heritage. They are pieces “probably” seized by the Artistic Treasure Seizure and Protection Board during the Civil War and delivered to the museum at the end of the conflagration. Among them are works by Joaquín Sorolla, Federico de Madrazo, or some attributed to Jan Brueghel the Younger. Most are in the museum’s warehouses, which, according to art gallery sources, have “neither in the past nor now” been given any claim for restitution.
This concerns 25 documented pieces, the provenance and location of 22 of which were already explicitly stated in their file published on the museum’s website. In the three cases where this was not the case, “it is because the paintings are not in the collection access portal due to their poor condition, while they are cataloged in the collection management system,” says the gallery. . Almost all of them are in warehouses or transferred to different institutions.
The Prado, which publishes some documents attesting to the seizures and movements of the paintings, also announces the creation of an investigation team to expand the study of these cases and analyze other possible seizures. It will be led by the professor and expert in heritage and civil war, Arturo Colorado, an authority on the matter.
Among the works referenced: ‘Head of a Woman with a White Mantilla’ by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, on loan to the Ampurdán Museum in Girona; ‘Portrait of a Gentleman (Sketch)’, by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz; ‘Snow landscape’, attributed to Jan Brueghel the Younger; ‘Christ in the Praetorium, by Pedro Ruiz González; ‘Christ the Man of Sorrows, by Adriaen Isenbrandt; a portrait of Alonso Cano by an anonymous author; ‘Adoration of the Magi’, by Francisco and Rodrigo de Osona; ‘Lady with a Fan’ and ‘Allegory of the Old Testament’, by José Gutiérrez de la Vega y Bocanegra, on loan to the Malaga Museum, or ‘The Flight into Egypt’ by Manuel de Castro.
Up to 17 of the seized paintings were delivered to the Prado between 1940 and 1942 by the Commissariat General of National Artistic Heritage: 5 were delivered to the Museum of Modern Art, from the Commissariat General of National Artistic Heritage (1942) ; 1 to the Museum of Modern Art, from the General Commissioner of National Artistic Heritage (1943), but it remained in the Museum of Contemporary Art and went to the Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum, from where it was assigned to the Prado in 2016 because of the reorganization of the collections. There is also a fruit bowl and a clock belonging to the Commissioner General for National Artistic Heritage.
“This initial figure could be higher in line with the latest studies by heritage and civil war expert Professor and Emeritus Professor Arturo Colorado Castellary,” the museum acknowledges. For this reason, it has decided to “formally open a path for investigation into the possibility that some of the works in its collection are from repossessions during the Civil War or during the Franco regime.”
Its purpose is to “remove any doubts that may exist about the background and context prior to its incorporation into the Prado collections and, if necessary and in accordance with all legal requirements, proceed with its return to its rightful owners. ”
Arturo Colorado, who in 2019 led the International Congress “Museum, War and Post-War” at the Prado National Museum, is coordinating the researchers who will study the museum’s records and records in depth. This work is being carried out in collaboration with the Library, Documentation and Archives. The conclusions of this research will be published in early 2023, but the complete current list with the information can be found on the website of the Museum.
Source: La Verdad
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