Reclaimed: paintings from the collection of Jacques Goudstikker

Exhibition: 13 February - 9 May 2010

Information from the museum website, 10 December 2009

Jacques Goudstikker was one of the most important Dutch dealers of Old Master Paintings between the two World Wars of the previous century. Literally hours before the Nazi invasion of The Netherlands, in May 1940, Goudstikker with his young wife and infant son boarded a ship bound for England and the United States. Only a few days at sea, Goudstikker died accidentally and shortly thereafter the dealer’s gallery, in Amsterdam, was looted by Hermann Goering.

For years, Goudstikker’s widow unsuccessfully fought for the restitution of the collection which had been recovered, after the War, and distributed among Dutch museums. After lengthy litigation and the presentation of Goudstikker’s typewritten inventory, 200 paintings were restored to Marei van Saher, the art dealer’s daughter-in-law, in February 2006. The exhibition includes both artworks as well as archival material—documents, photographs, inventories—which bring to life a tragic episode of 20th-century history.

Flip through Jacques Goudstikker’s inventory notebook here.