Kandinsky work, which was sold for 390,000 euros in Germany, was stolen
Controversy has arisen over allegations by Polish authorities that Vasily Kandinsky’s work, which was recently auctioned in Germany, was stolen about 40 years ago.
According to the Associated Press on the 1st (local time), Kandinsky’s 1928 watercolor “Untitled” was sold for 390,000 euros at the Griezebach auction in Berlin, Germany.
According to the booklet produced by the auction house, the work was presented by Kandinsky to a character named Otto Ralph and was kept in Braunschweig, Germany until 1940.
He was the director of the Polish National Museum from 1965 to 1983, and later passed on to another private collector in Munich in 1988.
The Polish Ministry of Culture and the Polish Embassy in Berlin claim the painting was stolen from the Warsaw National Museum in 1984.
Poland informed the auction organizers earlier and asked them not to put their works up for auction, but it was not accepted, signaling legal proceedings.
In fact, it is known that the seal of the Polish museum is stamped on the back of the work.
Polish Culture Minister Piotr Glinski criticized on Twitter, saying, “German auction houses have acted as if they were businesses receiving stolen goods.”
Kandinsky, a Russian pioneer of abstract painting, lived in Munich, Germany from 1896 to 1924. Poland is actively seeking to recover artworks looted by Nazi Germany during World War II.